I love making my own cleaning & laundry products! It saves so much money. I recently discovered a book "The Naturally Clean Home" by Karyn Siegel-Maier that has a lot of great recipes for easy and inexpensive cleaning products. There is a great recipe for Homemade Fabric Softener in this book that I recently started using and I love it! It works so much better than the store bought stuff and it is not blue. Here is the recipe:
Orange Glow Fabric Softener
4 cups water
3 cups white vinegar
1/2 cup baking soda
12 drops sweet orange pure essential oil
empty fabric softener bottle
Now before you start mixing we need to remember a 5th grade science lesson. When you mix baking soda and vinegar together it will create a volcano explosion. I was reminded of this lesson the hard way, however the floor where I was standing when I mixed this is very clean! Follow these directions and you will not have an eruption.
- Mix water, baking soda and sweet orange pure essential oil in the clean & empty fabric softener bottle. Shake to mix. Let the bottle sit 6-8 hours or overnight.
- Shake the bottle again to mix all ingredients. VERY SLOWLY add the vinegar to the bottle. DO NOT SHAKE!!
- Let the bottle sit for about 4 hours with the cap off. After 4 hours put the cap on and GENTLY Shake to mix.
- Store with the lid loosely on and gently shake before each use.
I know this recipe is a little complicated to make but it is definitely worth it. It will leave your clothes fresh and clean and will whiten your whites. You can leave out the baking soda but it definitely adds additional freshness to your clothes!
If you are interested in making your own Homemade Laundry Soap, go here for step by step directions and pictures. It costs less than $2 to make a 5 gallon bucket of Homemade Laundry Soap!
For more great frugal ideas, visit Frugal Friday at Life as Mom.
Where can I find the orange essential oil? I'd love to try this - seems like it would smell so good, and I'm trying to cut costs in every way I can. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteSherry
I actually just pour plain white vinegar into my fabric softener dispenser on the washing machine. It works wonderfully and there's not vinegar smell on my clothes either.
ReplyDeleteThe Orange Essential Oil is available at Health Food Stores (like Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Green Acres Market etc.). Some grocery stores have a health food section and will carry essential oils. They are also available on line (www.auracacia.com, www.avenaherbs.com, www.blossomfarm.com, www.essentialoil.com are a few, there are probably a lot more!).
ReplyDeleteI assume you could use any essential oil for a different fragrance?
ReplyDeleteYes, any type of pure Essential Oil will work.
ReplyDelete