Has anyone ever made their own laundry detergent?

LOL!! It's like a GELATINOUS mass! It's like...slightly watered down jello. My husband's first comment - after a very questioning look - when he saw my TRY to put it in some containers was "Egon, your mucus."

Seriously, did I do something wrong? I did let it sit an extra day, but I did mix it real well each time the directions told me to.

And it doesn't smell at all! Very neat. I'm trying a load with it now - on puppy stuff. Hopefully it will all be alright, but I'd like to hear from the "expert!"

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I have a visual......

I wanted to say that I always put the detergent in 1st, so it mixes more thoroughly with the water as it fills, then I put my clothes in. This might work for you in "unmassing" the mass.

Also, you might be on to something new. With all the attempts by manufacturers for new and improved, we've gone from bar to liquid to powder to tabs.....why not gel? If it works, quick, sell the formula to Tide !!!

dl

Hehe...not the FIRST thing I'd think of myself to get rich on.

I have an HE front loader, I can only put the detergent in compartments and it releases during the cycle. I've never tried putting detergent into the barrel after some water has gotten into it.

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Not flipper113, but, I made the detergent too. At first, I made it w/out water, as one poster stated, and made it "dry". All the ingredients didn't seem to mix together very well........ Also, the fels naptha didn't dissolve in the wash all the way.

Then, I tried cooking it, as stated in the original recipe. That was awful. It still didn't "dissolve" and actually floated to the top.

When I did my monthly washing machine cleaning, it was all over in the soap dispenser area when I removed the dispenser (front loader). I dumped it out, and have gone back to store bought. I find the HE to be the same price as the other detergents here.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I didn't have any problem dissolving the soap. You have to grate it real well, then it dissolves completely. I did have a few pieces that I didn't want to scrape my fingers on grating, but I pulled them out of the hot water and smooshed them up a bit, then put them back in the pot. They mostly dissolved and I pulled out the tiny pieces that were left.

The HE is the same as detergents here, but it's 14.00 bucks for 40 loads. That seems so HUGE compared to what this costs to make.

I thought flipper had a front loader too?

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I did grate it very very fine. Maybe I just didn't do the melting part right?? I don't know....but, none the less, I am going back to store bought.

I was recently researching the "smelly towel syndrome" for a friend who also has a front loader, and came across many people who said to not use as much soap as the bottle calls for (not related to the towels, just a side note). I've been doing this, and it's been working very well, and my soap is lasting a lot longer. I do about 3 loads per day, 5 days out of the week

I think flipper also has a front loader. Have you tried pouring the soap in with the clothes ?? I do this with baking soda or Borax.....seems to get "used" just fine. Good Luck.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I make the dry formula... 1 bar of Fels Naptha (or Ivory or homemade soap): 1 c. Borax: 1 c. washing soda. Have also started adding 1/4 c. Oxyclean recently.
I grate it on the smallest holes (think parmesan cheese) then I give it a good whirl in the food processor with the steel blades so it ends up being nearly as fine as the Borax and washing soda.

ETA: I only use 1 or 2 TBs of the dry stuff. 2 TBs if it's a particularly grimy load, and I also have a front loader.

Ugh, bad news!

The detergent never dispensed.

I put the liquid detergent dispenser back into the detergent compartment, I normally have it out because I use powder. I put in a bit less than 1/2 a cup. I guess it was too thick to go through the dispensing unit. Maybe I should have treated it like a powder, since it's...umm...a solid?

I was so excited about doing this and I had the TIME to do it. I HAD to have done something wrong. I'm bummed!

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Thank you!

I wonder why the ratio differences? The liquid calls for 1/3 bar Fels, 1/2 cup each borax and washing soda.

If no one can figure out what I floofed on with these jello-suds, I'm going to try this.

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I haven't stopped in all day and look what I miss!

When you first make it you have to let it sit overnight and yes it is a huge bucket of gel, you made it right. I usually take a hamburger chopper or a couple of wooded spoons and break it up to like a curdled milk consistancy, it'll still have globs in it, but as long as you can pour it you're ok.

Then I have 3 detergent bottles that I have the spouts taken out of and I carefully pour it into them leaving room in each bottle. Just before you pour it into the washer shake the crap out of the bottle! Good exercise here too, btw. And I fill my whole dispenser up and i have never had it left in it before. What type of washer do you have?

I have never tried it as a powder, but there are lots of recipes for it. I think the trick to the liquid is the shaking part. If I shake really good, it pours just like a frothy egg drop soup.

Try it again, once you get it; you'll never go back! I'm hooked on how cheap it is and I will never buy one of the gazillion detergent bottles that gets sold every day ( yes I know they are recycleable, but still that's a lot of plastic).

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

Now that I read everything let me make a suggestion, try shaking it a LOT right before you run the load, that's what I do. We have the LG front loaders, yes. I see that you have the front loader too now that I acutally read everything, sorry!

I was a little worried that it wouldn't work that well either, but I have been using it for almost a year now and you can NOT tell, we are still clean, no spots on our clothes or anything.

Try it again, don't give up!

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

I made some of this earlier this year. I use the recipe on the Duggar's site, not sure if it is the same one posted here or not.
Mine gelled a bit but isn't too bad. I thought maybe I added too much water.
I fill up an old detergent container and add some essential oils for scent. When I do laundry I shake the container a bit and it loosens up.

I love making it, LOVE that it is literally no suds at all.

So far I have filled up three containers and have about 1/2 of the 5 gallon bucket left. The most expensive thing was the essential oil I got for scents but you don't need to use them.

ETA I have a front loader too.

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Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking

I had it sitting for two days, instead of one (just got busy and couldn't get back to it), and it was almost solid. I thought maybe I had let it sit TOO long and messed it up.

I have an LG front loader too - which is AWESOME, by the way.

Hehe, when I stuck a ladle in it to scoop it out, my first thought was "I wonder if I could run this through the blender?" Maybe I wasn't too far off with that thought! I did end up spilling (dropping? LOL!) some "chunks" of it on the table when I was trying to get it out of the bucket. When I tried to pick it up, it broke up very easily, I can imagine it's not too hard to "unscramble".

Once you shake it all up though - does it re-gel itself?

One quick note - I did use 1/2 bar of Fels Naptha instead of 1/3. I'm thinking that would NOT throw it off, but figure it's worth mentioning.

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I don't think sitting to long would do anything because after you put it in the bottles it just sits anyway?

I really think it's just that it needs to be shaken more just before you use it, I"ve never had any left in the dispenser. I do fill it up to the top too, btw. But before every use you have to shake it up really good which is why I leave room in the bottlle.

And I think I've read where people put it in a blender, so no that wasn't a bad idea really!

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

I want to go get some sort of covered container to use as a shaker, then use it per load. I figure it would probably be the easiest to shake up just what I need per load. 1/2 cup isn't much!

Now I'm anxious to try it again.

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Just another thought as to why mine didn't gel too much, I used 1/2 bar of Fels Naptha and a whole bar of some WAHM soap. Maybe that is why mine isn't too solid.

I really love it and need to refill my container but it vibrated back behind the washer during the spin cycle, not sure how I am gong to rescue it. Our washer/dryer are in an enclosed closet.
I had to resort to using the Tide I had. I hate how sudsy it is. I know it leaves soapy residue on stuff.

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Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking

So I just bent a wire hanger and got my bottle and refilled it.
I have filled 5 bottles so far and will be able to fill at least one more.
So estimating that I would have spent at least $10 a bottle on this size of detergent I would have easily spent $60.
I have supplies on hand still to make at least 5 more 5 gallon buckets.
I spent maybe $20 in supplies and a lot of that was for the 5 gallon bucket and lid and I bought a new pot to use just for this. I wanted to get an old one at the thrift store but didn't get a chance to look for one.
I have 6 kids at home, we do a lot of laundry!

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Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking

HOT DAWG!!!

It worked. It hardly took any effort at all to make it liquidy again. Just did another load and the detergent cup is clean!!

Wooo hooo!!

Thanks for all the suggestions! I haven't tried it on my clothes yet, that will be the final test. If I really like it, this will be so great to save money.

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Once you get the making it down, the rest is so easy! I wish I had tried it a lot sooner, I have saved a ton of money this year. Even as a couponer you never get HD detergent free, so pretty cheap is the next best thing!

Glad it worked for you!

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

I hae been making this for about ten years now, and I will not go back to buying detergent. I make sure the fels naptha is dissolved by simmering for a while and occasional stirring. To save time, after is is added to the bucket with the additional water, I stir it well, and pour it into the empty plastic jugs. I do not let it set for 24 hours as the recipe calls for. I do though, have to shake up the container before adding it to my waster as it is very thick, but leaving space in the jug when you are filling it helps. hope this helps someone.