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Storing My Homemade Laundry Detergent

March 13, 2012 By Victoria 6 Comments

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Last updated on July 13th, 2021 at 12:22 pm

Tips for pouring and storing homemade laundry detergent.Storing My Homemade Laundry Detergent

(Links in this post are affiliate links. I will be compensated when you make a purchase by clicking those links. See my disclosure page for more information)

I started making homemade laundry detergent for my family about a year ago, using the recipe listed on The Duggar Family Website (click here to view recipe). I find it works really well, and is incredibly inexpensive.

I do have one gripe about it, and that is that it doesn’t get our whites as white as I like them so I use Tide with Bleach Alternative for our white loads and the homemade detergent for all our other loads.

Storing My Homemade Laundry DetergentWhen the recipe is done, you have a full 5 gallon bucket full of detergent, that needs to be cut in strength by half before you use it.

The recipe suggests using an empty laundry detergent container, the large types with the nozzle on the end to then fill up half way with water and half with the detergent.

However I don’t have a shelf to store such a large container for easy usage and I didn’t have any lying around.

Storing My Homemade Laundry DetergentSo I decided to go ahead and use large vinegar bottles. I use vinegar in all our home made cleaners, and as a replacement for fabric softener, which means I empty one of these large containers every 8 to 10 days.

At that frequency of usage I was able to collect the amount of bottles I needed for one batch of detergent in a reasonable amount of time. In the mean time I just reused the bottles I had over and over.

Storing My Homemade Laundry DetergentTo fill the bottles, I first filled them up one cup at a time keeping count of how many cups I was adding, until I had an even number of cups and still had enough room at the top to shake up the detergent as needed.

I then emptied out the bottle and refilled it with half the cups of water and then took a sharpie and marked a line and wrote the word , detergent beside it.

Storing My Homemade Laundry DetergentI then filled up the bottle with the other half of the cups of water, and marked a line, and wrote the word water beside it.

This gave me an accurate and simple way to refill the bottles over and over. As I emptied new vinegar bottles, I would place them next to my first bottle and mark them with the same detergent and water lines.

Storing My Homemade Laundry DetergentTo make the filling of the bottle easier I made a funnel out of a water bottle. I used meat scissors cut the bottle with ease.

Storing My Homemade Laundry DetergentThis is what I ended up with, and it fits great within the mouth of the vinegar bottles. It is still spills a bit so I do the pouring over the kitchen sink (but for the photo below I did it over the floor just so I could snap the picture for you)

Storing My Homemade Laundry DetergentWith the funnel in place, and the detergent and water line marked I then go ahead and fill my empty vinegar bottles with detergent.

I then add the water, place the lid on top, and shake the container well. I store the ready filled bottles in the basement. They need a good shaking when it comes time to using them but other than that they are ready to go when I need them.

Do you use homemade laundry detergent?

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Filed Under: Housekeeping, Sanity tip Tagged With: detergent, DIY cleaners, homemade, thrifty living

Comments

  1. angie says

    March 14, 2012 at 1:49 am

    have been thinking about making my own thanks for sharing very interesting come see me at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

    Reply
  2. lib says

    March 14, 2012 at 5:08 pm

    great idea – wonderful way to recycle – the Lorax would be proud!
    BLessings!
    http://bit.ly/wsoUJV

    Reply
  3. Jamie says

    March 15, 2012 at 4:35 am

    I make my own laundry soap as well, using the Duggar’s recipe. I find that it works well but for stinky clothes or heavily soiled clothes (or whites) I just add a tiny bit of regular detergent to the load & it works great.

    Reply
  4. Tina Tomlinson says

    November 18, 2014 at 8:25 am

    I realize you use there recipe but might I make a suggestion having made my own for several years with success. One don’t use Fels Naptha, it is full of carcinogens, use Zote soap instead. Most Walmarts carry it as well as being able to find it on eBay. It’s all natural and smells wonderful plus is gentful enough for a baby. Two if you have issues with whites add two heaping scoops of OxyClean to your mix. I don’t make my mixture the same way everyone else does. I use the entire box of each and four heaping scoops of OxyClean. As with any detergent overtime there is the yellowing of whites but that’s cured with 1 cup Cascade, 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup laundry detergent, boiling water and a large bucket. Put the the ingredients in the bucket add boing water, enough for about 3/4 of the bucket and stir with wooden spoon until mixed well. (I use my paint blender that I use for my laundry soap.) Place dingy yellowed whites in the bucket…only enough so that they can be covered my water and let soak for at least 4 hours. Then put in washer and wash as usual on whites setting. Hope this is all helpful.

    Reply
    • Victoria says

      November 18, 2014 at 9:04 am

      Thanks for the tips.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Ways to Save Money, Make Your Own Cleaning Products says:
    May 14, 2014 at 7:08 am

    […] Detergent from Crystal and Comp Homemade Laundry Detergent from Heavenly Savings and Homemaking How to Store Homemade Laundry Detergent from Snail Pace […]

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Hi, I'm Victoria

Welcome to the Snail Pace Transformations blog where I share my tips for improving finances and home management one small step at a time. Why small? Because small changes are more likely to transform your life.

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