I made my first batch of detergent this weekend. I shaved my bar soap, put it in hot water to melt it, but it still seems to be congealing at the top of the water. Any ideas?

Mine does this too. I usually make about 10 gallons at one time and store it in ice cream buckets until I'm ready to use it. I just stir it really good before I use it that first time and it takes care of the gel problem for the remainder of the time I use it. I do way too much laundry around here though and go through an ice cream bucket in a matter of 2 weeks.

My mil also makes her own and to combat the problem, she adds more water. Seems to solve her problem with ease. I'm not sure how well it cleans though when watered down. Her clothes aren't very dirty to start with, where as my laundry is filled with every stain known to man, and then some.

HTH

What is your recipe?

grate a bar of soap (I used Zote) add to 3 Gallons of hot water, let sit over night to melt soap. then add 1/2 to 1 C washing soda, 1/2 C borax. My clothes seem to be getting clean with the clumps. I"m not crazy about the smell of them though. the Zote smelled pretty good when I was grating it. But the clothes smell nothing like that. They almost smell musty.

Anyone have a recipe for high efficiency washers? Also has anyone broken it down by cost per load? Just wondering what kind of savings there is by making your own. Bioquest from Amway and if I'm fiquring it right it cost me about .20 a load for laundry detergent and I use vinegar as fabric softner. Which I think is pretty cheap. Mind you I have 4 little piggies that live at my house.

i dont know about makeing your own for high effeincy machines but I have one and what I do is buy regular detergent and cut it in half with water. Save an empty bottle and mix it 50/50. My clothes are very dirty and comes out clean and smell great.

try adding a 1/4 cup or so of white vinegar to the wash. it helped the almost musty smell i was having for a while. and i was having this funky soap residue kind of feeling. like when you accidently leave some shampoo or conditioner in your hair and you can feel the soap residue.. anyway, it cleaned that right up and I don't have it anymore. its cheap (a few dollars for a large jug).

have you (or anyone else that makes their own) figured out the price per load yet? how much does it cost to make it?

thanks!
-Amanda

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~~Amanda~~ Mommy to one Little Man (3 1/2 yrs old), TTC #2

2littleladies what kind of washjer do you have? I have the Calypso and hate it. I woud love to go back to a regular washer/dryer but I spent $1800 of the set and I can't afford to buy another one.

I agree with momof4girls, I have a duet, and I would love to go back to the old kind of washers and dryers. My dryer was supposed to dry in half the time. It takes at least 2 cycles to get my clothes dry. As far as the cost, about.com has it at .03 cents a load. I had to pay a little more for some of my items b/c I could only find them at homeland. I used to buy Purex and it is .10 cents a load.

What do you hate about the high efficiency washers? I have a LG and I love it. I like that I can add fabric softener into the little cup and it spins so much water out that I can dry the clothes in much less time.