Homemade Laundry Soap & Stain Remover

Another money saving idea...homemade laundry soap!!!  I've recently started making my own laundry soap and stain remover.  I perused the internet and found many recipes for the soap...I ended up using 1 bar of Ivory soap, 1 cup of borax, and 1 cup of washing soda.  The borax and washing soda were both found in the laundry aisle at my local supermarket.  I got a 3 pack of Ivory bar soap, a box of borax, and a box of washing soda for the same price as ONE bottle of Tide!!

To make the Ivory soap granule size, you can either grate it on a cheese grater, or chop it into chunks and throw the whole mix into the food processor.  I found the food processor route is MUCH easier!!

One batch of the homemade soap lasts about a month around here...(two kids, myself, and the big guy (kid))!!

All the recipes recommend using 1-2 Tbsp per load.  I tend to use 2 Tbsp more often than not.

I've had no complaints from anyone about dirty clothes or clothes that don't smell good and clean.  I've continued to use liquid fabric softener, mostly because we like the smell.

If you decide to make your own soap, be sure you buy WASHING soda, not baking soda!!  Different pH levels, it definitely affects how clean and fresh your clothes will be!!

For the homemade stain remover, I adapted a recipe found on pinterest, originally from One Good Thing, by Jillee.  The original recipe called for 2/3 cup plain Dawn dish soap...all I can find at the stores anymore are the super duper ultra concentrated kinds, and using the full amount with this leaves the clothes slightly blue after one washing, so I had to go a double wash!!  (What a waste of water and money!!)

So, here's the recipe for the stain remover...
1/3 cup Dawn dish soap (blue, regular)
2/3 cup ammonia
2 cups very warm water
6 Tbsp baking soda (yes, BAKING soda this time)

Put all ingredients in a large squirt bottle and shake well!  Because I had to experiment with the recipe and ended up adding more liquids, I had to put mine in an old detergent bottle, due to the fact that I don't own a squirt bottle large enough to hold all that liquid!!!

The water needs to be pretty warm in order to dissolve the baking soda.  It's a little easier to mix the baking soda with the water and then pour the mixture into your container of choice!!  Trust me, it's tough to "pour" tablespoons of baking soda into a bottle!!

This stain remover works wonders on my one year old's clothes!!  It's successfully removed blueberry and strawberry stains!!

It doesn't completely remove old, set-in stains, like the stuff I used to buy, but as long as you get the stain out before drying the clothing, there's no reason to spend lots of money on special, expensive stain removers!!  I've yet to come across a (relatively) fresh stain that this stuff hasn't worked on!!

Good luck and enjoy!