Feeling frugal? Homemade laundry detergent, the powdered kind. Costs about $3 for 64 loads.

[peacebird]

Grate a bar of fels naptha or ivory soap with the fine side of your grater.

To the powdered soap add 1 cup each of washing soda, borax, and baking soda. Toss it in a jar, shake it up and use a scant 1/8 cup per load.

Use white vinegar as your fabric softener.

This works well in HE washing machines.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

1. Get one of these too!

[madokie]

8. As a kid when my mom couldn't get the gasoline engine powered maytag washer

to run for whatever reason she would do laundry on a wash board.
People back then didn't shy away from work and they appreciated whatever they had. Much simpler and I think as fun of a time to live as what we now.

[GiaGiovanni]

10. Chances are your mom wasn't working full time outside the home

These days, most women have a job outside the home and a job inside. I don't know that there is any time or energy for washboards.

[madokie]

43. You're right never worked outside of the home

way too many kids to take care of plus this was in the early 50's when not many women worked outside of the home.

[pnwmom]

58. Back in those days, there was often an entire day -- or more -- devoted to laundry.

Thank goodness most of us are beyond that now.

[GiaGiovanni]

65. Actually, many working class women and immigrants worked outside the home

Middle class women did not, but I had great-great-aunts who worked in garment factories while their children were in school.

[msanthrope]

67. Not many women worked outside of the home in the 50s? If you forget minorities, immigrants, and the

poor, that might be true.

[madokie]

72. We were poor

everyone in the neighbor was poor and I don't remember any of the women working outside of the home. Of course most of them were like my mother with a bunch of kids to take care of. Back then we didn't have pre school or even kindergarten and not many baby setters. I'm talking country about as country as you can get.

[TalkingDog]

71. I love middle and upper class feminists.

Their world is so rosy.

Poor women have always worked outside the home.

[pansypoo53219]

56. i live in a fancy 1926 house.

i grew up in older w/ concrete stationary tubs. here it is porcelain and it has washboard groves, but more like for delicates. usually i only see porcelain ones on the lakeside basements.

[Liberal_in_LA]

18. no! update to this

[Nay]

23. My mom had this washer when I was a kid!! That was a long time ago...

[Jackpine Radical]

24. We had one very much like that one.

[Liberal_in_LA]

28. My aunt had one on the late 60s, long after they were out of fashion. I'd watch her feed the wet

clothes through the wringer at the top.

[riverbendviewgal]

27. My grandfather used to turn this on

and put dollars through the wringer rollers and my little boys thought this was his money making machine. LOL

[Liberal_in_LA]

30. lol n/t

[dhol82]

39. remember when

Remember when my family got this washer. My mom was sooooo ecstactic! This was a major step up from the wash board.

The wringer was another orgasmic addendum.

This generation is spoiled.

Anybody remember having a stretching board for their table cloths and curtains? You washed them and then added starch and then had to pin them up on the stretcher for drying. Fun memory. My dad made our stretcher himself. Poor European immigrant knowledge. Whenever I think about it I am impressed by what my folks were able to do - post war, not speaking the language, coming to a new country and succeeding. Just awesome!

[llmart]

46. My mother had one of these too!

She didn't have a clothes dryer until the mid-1960's and we were a family of nine! I think of her often and how difficult her life was compared to mine. I would never want to go back to all that damned work. I can still see her running the diapers through the wringer, sometimes getting a finger a little too close to the wringers.

[sammytko]

61. My mother must be weird. She loved seeing rows of diapers on the clothe lines.

Never wanted a dryer. Eleven kids!

[one_voice]

47. I put my arm through one of those...

wringers I was five at the sitters house. I put my finger in and my arm went through up to the elbow, and instead of popping it apart the sitter ran my arm back out. I had to have a skin graph done. I still remember my grandmother calling that woman every kind of stupid so-n-so.

[csziggy]

68. That part is called a mangle for good reason!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangle_%28machine%29

I'm sorry you had to get skin grafts - glad it wasn't worse!

[kiva]

70. Me too!

I've never met anyone else that admitted it. I was lucky because it didn't leave any lasting damage - I think I was a bit younger - but I do remember lots of screaming (it was in a laundrymat).

[LeftyMom]

48. My mom washed my diapers in one of those, in the eighties.

Note to self: increase Christmas gift budget for mom.

[struggle4progress]

51. Holy shizz! It's the finger masher! We had one in a place we rented when I was a tyke!

[Voice for Peace]

52. and one of these

we used to have one of these when living in the country
and doing all laundry by hand. a great invention.

[Pryderi]

2. "washing soda?" nt

[msongs]

5. sodium carbonate - most common version is arm & hammer in a big yellow box nt

[eShirl]

32. and if you can't find that, it's easy to make from baking soda

http://chemistry.about.com/od/makechemicalsyourself/a/Sodium-Carbonate-From-Baking-Soda.htm

Sodium bicarbonate is CHNaO3 while sodium carbonate is Na2CO3. Simply heat baking soda or sodium bicarbonate in a 200°F oven for about an hour. Carbon dioxide and water will be given off. Dry sodium carbonate will remain.

[LeftyMom]

49. You can get a giant box at the pool supply store for about ten bucks.

[eShirl]

57. Then do it.

[Care Acutely]

59. Oh God. Now I would need to make washing soda out of my baking soda to make my laundry detergent?

I don't even bake real cookies anymore. Who has this kind of time?

[Kaleva]

3. I need something that is bio-compatible..

as I'll be using the wash water to water the garden with. I already save the rinse water to use as the wash water for the next load of laundry.

[BainsBane]

14. They don't add phosphates any more

Since so many states have banned them. The same is true for dishwashing detergent, which is why you see bits of junk all over you dishes. They say the dishwashing detergent companies will eventually figure out how to improve formulas without using phosphates, as the laundry detergent companies have done.

[jmowreader]

17. Even the phosphates are phosphate free now

I used to sell Red Devil TSP Substitute. It is phosphate free.

This makes as much sense as fat free half and half, but it works well.

[DonRedwood]

36. Don't you mess with my fat free half and half!!!

I have no idea what it is and I don't care. After my heart issue my nutritionist checked the label and OK'd it.

God Bless the fat free half and half, is all I can say.

[alfredo]

40. It repels bugs too.

[pugetres]

4. Please don't use any soaps that contain tallow (fels naptha does) on kids pajamas

or other clothing items that are treated to be fire-resistant. It reduces the fire-resistant properties.

[peacebird]

6. Good to know! Thank you! Ivory works just as well really...

[lbrtbell]

35. It also stains white clothes a hideous yellow

And it smells terrible. I was going to try to make some homemade laundry soap, but one bar of Fels made our entire huge double garage stink like horrible chemicals!

Now that I know Ivory soap can work, I might give it a try!

[alfredo]

38. Fels is used on stains in our house, that's all.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

7. Wow. I have to try that. I've been using Charlie's Soap for laundry

for a while now, but it can be hard to find.

[Lionessa]

9. Hmm, I buy the dishwashing liquid at the dollar store,

three strong squirts does a load beautifully. And vinegar for softener and is also good for body odor clothes.

[Mariana]

11. I've been using this recipe for awhile.

It works great.

[Roland99]

12. Will have to give this a try!

[kelliekat44]

13. My grandfather worked at Fels in Philly until it closed. Fels Naptha had many uses including

painting on windows at Christmas time to make snow scenes.

[LiberalCatholic]

15. also prevents poison ivy and oak

My grandmother always had us take a shower with it when we came from anywhere where there was poison ivy and oak. She always swore it prevented it.

[Mariana]

53. If you wash off the oil before your skin absorbs it

it certainly will prevent poison ivy rash.

[M_A]

16. works

I've been making my own laundry and dishwasher detergent for some time. Saves $$ and doesn't need much to do the job so more environmentally friendly as well. Safe for the septic tanks for the fellow rural dwellers.

[peacebird]

19. Please pass on your dishwasher detergent recipe! I am looking for one...

[Squinch]

21. I've been looking too. All the reviews for the homemade ones seem to say they leave

a film on the dishes and don't do a very good job.

[Squinch]

20. If you don't want to go through the grating, there are recipes on the net where

you replace the grated soap with a little dish soap.

[sammytko]

22. or you could use a food processor or blender.

If you take the bar of soap out of the package and let it dry for a week or so, it is more crumbly and easier to process.

I used to do this, but the powder smell was too intense. I jsut use Cheer now - small amount.

[savebigbird]

25. I used to make this...

...it started building up on my clothes after repeated washings. I wanted it to work but it couldn't stand up to sweaty workout clothes.

[Robb]

26. Hm. This week's Safeway circular:

50 oz bottle All 2X detergent -- e.g. 50 loads -- $3.33. Add in $1/off coupon in the newspaper, final price $2.33.

Bargains are where you find them, I suppose.

[drthais]

29. I've been doing this for about 5 years

...fels naptha or OCTAGON...
a slightly different recipe....
1 cup Borax . 2 cups Washing Soda (arm and hammer makes it)
buy a teeny tiny food processor ONLY for this
whirr up in the processor
perfect powder.
I do it once every week and a half or so.

DO THIS!
because...you should be pissed at the price of laundry detergent!

[riverbendviewgal]

31. My friend is a weaver

And her weaver guild did a study and found that Palmolive liquid was very gentle and a better cleaner that Woolite . Woolite broke down the wool.

[peacebird]

33. Really? Wow. Very good to know!

[surrealAmerican]

37. Woolite is something to aviod.

I usually use shampoo for wool. Any brand will do. Conditioning shampoo works well for washable silk, too.

[marybourg]

34. I find Ivory very harsh; makes my hands red and sore.

[TexasBushwhacker]

55. You can be allergic to Ivory. My niece was. n/t

[csziggy]

69. Ivory gives me hives

Has since I was a kid. So do a lot of bar soaps and detergents. If they don't give me hives, the fragrances make me sneeze.

I'd be afraid of making my own soaps or detergents. I have a very few brands I can use because of fragrances or ingredients. Any time one is discontinued, I have a big problem.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

41. This is how they do laundry in Appalachia!

[Ednahilda]

42. I've used a similar recipe for years

(1/2 cup grated soap, 1/3 cup each washing soda and borax) and then whisk it into hot water to make a gallon of liquid detergent. I find it dissolves better in the wash water than the powder. Hubby works in construction and it gets his clothes plenty clean. Instead of the Fels Naptha, I will sometimes use homemade lye soap in which I do use tallow and lard, but I haven't noticed any excessive yellowing.

I, too, would be interested in any dish detergent directions. I've tried a few, but I've been really disappointed with the results.

[Squinch]

44. I use a wet recipe: 1.5 oz borax, 1.5 oz washing soda, 1.5 oz dish soap

to a gallon of water. It comes out to about a dollar for the 64 loads.

[hunter]

45. Doesn't work where we live. The water is too hard.

Some kinds of bar soaps are useless, like candle wax almost.

[LeftyMom]

50. Kirk's works in teh same recipe, in case anybody needs a non-rashy, tallow free version.

My kid's got crazy sensitive skin and this is the only thing that won't make him break out in hives.

[mckara]

54. Thanks!

[watch the sky]

60. yeah, thanks for all the info everybody

I'd heard of this before, but didn't know the formulae . . . Tide is getting very expensive here all of a sudden, I might give this a go

[Taverner]

62. Tried White Vinegar - your clothes end up smelling like, well, vinegar

Not a pleasant smell unless you are a salad

[peacebird]

64. How much did you use? I use the same old Downey cap to measure mine, and there is no odor.

[Taverner]

66. About that - 1/4 of a cup

Baking soda, yes that works great.

OF course anyone who's done the volcano project in science class knows vinegar and baking soda equals, well, a volcano

[CreekDog]

63. This is an AWESOME idea

sure, it takes a little time to get the stuff and make the detergent, but i save time by eating McDonald's that night!