Thursday, March 12, 2009

I'm Feeling Very Duggar-ish!





Yup. Duggar-ish. As in "I Made My Own Laundry Soap"! With the encouragement of fellow bloggers, and in the interest of saving money, not having to throw away in the recycle bin so many big, ugly plastic laundry soap containers and healthier living and perhaps even (I hope!) alleviating some skin irritations I seem to be developing, I embarked on this new venture.



I FINALLY found all of the ingredients (in several different stores! I wish there were ONE store who carried all of the ingredients!) and got it done. I've done two or three loads with it in my front loader, and I'm pleasantly surprised and very pleased. My white washcloths came out looking very nice, very white. The smell is fresh and pleasant. I used my cheese grater for the Fels-Naptha and it worked out very well. At just a couple of tablespoons per load, this should last me for quite some time!



(Warning: Do not breathe too deeply while you're grating the soap or mixing the ingredients. It might help if you used a mask or tied a bandana around your nose and mouth. This stuff is horrid to breathe in, I sneezed like no other! It was awful!)


The Duggars make all their own laundry soap, but they make the liquid. I thought liquid might be a pain to store for as long as it would take me to use their huge recipe, so I opted for this dry laundry soap recipe. It's great!


You can find the recipe that I used on this cute-as-can-be posting right here from Maryjane at the Beehive Cottage. Her blog is as sweet as can BEE! Thanks so much for the information, Maryjane!



**Please note, I used Fels-Naptha bar soap to grate for this recipe. It was available at my little local hardware store and I saw some at Kroger, too.

Here are photos of the ingredients you'll need, as I found it extremely difficult to find the required ingredients:



3 bars fels naptha soap, grated


1 bright yellow of Arm and Hammer WASHING SODA, almost 4 lb.

1 box 20-Mule Team Borax 4 lb.

1 4 lb. box of Arm and Hammer Baking SODA (orange box)

7 comments:

Nancy Yoakum said...

Thanks for coming over and visiting my blog! I love your house and your pictures! Looks like a Norman Rockwell setting!

Unknown said...

I thought my mom was the only person who made their own soap. I'm gonna hop over there and check this recipe out!

Kathie Truitt said...

Okay, but your not going to have 21 kids are you??

When I think 'Duggar-ish' I think of the reality show where they have a million kids. Isn't their name "Duggar"? I actually like the show.

Sincerely, Emily said...

Hi - I am still using up the HUGE jug of commercial detergent and then WILL WILL WILL make homemade. Looking forward to the HUGE cost savings and also using less chemicals too. I have been using the white vinegar in my front loader for a few months (in place of fabric softener) and it works great. also ran out of jet dry and have been using it in the dish washer too - working fine there (what a deal). Emily

A Romantic Porch said...

Funny I read this today...I've had a recipe for homemade detergent for quite a while, but I can't find ZOTE soap anywhere. Then today on another blog, I read to use 1/2 bar of grated soap in it...just plain soap, so I'm gonna pop over and see what BEE HIVE cottage says about it. I want to make my own soap. xo rachel

Sincerely, Emily said...

If Rachel from Romantic Porch reads again......I found the PINK Zote soap at a 99 cent store or Dollar General or one of the dollar-type stores. 2 bars for .99 (I think it was where the bar soaps were - but might have been in laundry area - can't remember.

Pink Slippers said...

I love her blog too. Congrats on making your own you brave one.
Wendy