holy cow! WHAT a difference vinegar makes!

[Nicolepa]

Going back to the laundry thing, in addition to using Vinegar, I started making my own laundry detergent, because it was just getting so expensive. Mix this with 1/4 cup of vinegar in every load, and IMO you'd be hard pressed to find anything on the shelf that works as good. Also, it's dirt cheap to make. All our clothes come out so much cleaner and softer using this:

Simple Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe

1. Grate 1/2 bar Fels Naptha or Ivory soap (or you can try other soaps) in a food processor or cheese grater.
2. 1 cup 20 Mule Borax
3. 1 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
4. 1 cup Baking soda.
5. Process until mixed.
That’s it. It takes 5 minutes. Use about 2 tablespoons per full load of laundry.

Fels Naptha, Borax and Washing Soda are usually available in the Laundry Aisle of your grocery store. Ivory soap can be substituted if your local store does not carry Fels Naptha.

My $15 investment in these ingredients should yield enough detergent for about 450 loads making it about 3 cents per load, plus the cost of the vinegar.

You only use 2 TBS? I recently started making my own detergent but the book said to use 1/2 cup per load. At 1/2 cup I couldn't possibly figure out why everyone said it was cheaper, but I loved how white my clothes were getting. I gave up when I grated my finger 2 weeks ago (very painful even 2 weeks later). But if I can use only 2 TBS and get the same results I'm all for that!

 

[Aryn]

I have bought the ingredients and made the soap, now I just need to convince my DH that this will work. He is such a skeptic, but I asked him how he thought people washed clothes before Tide and stuff like that. I guess we will see if the recipe cleans his clothes as well as Tide. I have faith, the DIS boards have never let me down before!!
I will post and let everyone know how it went after my first load.
I have a top loader and will use 2TBS plus 1/4 cup vinegar.

Wish me luck!!!

 

[apnep]

I have bought the ingredients and made the soap, now I just need to convince my DH that this will work. He is such a skeptic, but I asked him how he thought people washed clothes before Tide and stuff like that. I guess we will see if the recipe cleans his clothes as well as Tide. I have faith, the DIS boards have never let me down before!!
I will post and let everyone know how it went after my first load.
I have a top loader and will use 2TBS plus 1/4 cup vinegar.

Wish me luck!!!

Well??! I'm dying to know!

 

[Maleficent's Folly]

Ceecee, I have a front loader. I put the vinegar in the softener compartment before I start the load.

Ditto on front loader.

 

[Aryn]

Success!! I washed and dried a load last night and they are so clean! My DH was very impressed. He is very picky about the softness of clothes and he had no complaints. The whites were white and he had workout clothes in the wash and they came out so clean!!! Plus I am saving a ton of money, so everyone is happy.
Thanks to the poster who gave me the recipe.

 

[charming23]

I used vinegar for the first time yesterday while washing a load of towels and WOW!!!!!. They came out so fluffy and clean.

Thanks for the tip. I will be using vinegar from now on.

 

[jenseib]

I didn't notice a singel difference in clothes with vinegar. I never use fabric softenr. What is the "big" difference I should see?

 

[Crystal0608]

I love vinegar. I cook fresh green beans in water with a spoon or so of sugar and a couple dashes of apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is a *must* in turnip greens, spinach, well any greens, turnips, and cucumbers. I love malt vinegar on fries and balsamic vinegar cooked with chicken. I also use apple cider vinegar to make homemade salad dressing w/ oj, olive oil, & s&p. I also drink homemade pickle juice after I finish off the pickles.

I'm not a huge fan of the white distilled for eating, but great for cleaning & laundry. I don't smoke, but I've saw cups of it on counters of households that do to get rid off the odor. I keep a small dish of vinegar mixed with dawn to kill nats this time of year with fresh produce on the counter/windowsill. I put the vinegar in with my detergent when I do the laundry.

 

[thebeesknees]

I had a quilt made by my great-grandmother that had some stains and odors. I soaked it in detergent and Oxy-clean for several hours, then washed it. Most of the stains came out, but I could still smell the odors. So I re-soaked it with Oxy-clean and vinegar. The smell came out completely this time. I don't know if it is the vinegar or the Oxy-clean that did it, but thought I'd throw it out there for anyone who has a tough odor to remove from clothing.

 

[DMOMof3]

WOW, can't wait to go home and do laundry tonight, lol

 

[mrodgers]

I have to wonder, does vinegar work the same as using Borax in the laundry?

We have a front loader washer and well water. When we run the washer, the water absolutely stinks. There is nothing wrong with the water, we even drink it straight from the ground. We have no filters or anything on our well. We test it often as well.

We've always had problems with the water, and as a result our clothes, stinking. The entire basement will also stink from the water (laundry is in the basement and runs into a sump pump.) I got to thinking Borax one day and told my wife to pick some up. We tried it and bingo! No more stinky water or clothes. Clothes came out much cleaner as well.

Is this the same with vinegar, or are you just using vinegar as only a softener?

 

[phred52]

I have to wonder, does vinegar work the same as using Borax in the laundry?

We have a front loader washer and well water. When we run the washer, the water absolutely stinks. There is nothing wrong with the water, we even drink it straight from the ground. We have no filters or anything on our well. We test it often as well.

We've always had problems with the water, and as a result our clothes, stinking. The entire basement will also stink from the water (laundry is in the basement and runs into a sump pump.) I got to thinking Borax one day and told my wife to pick some up. We tried it and bingo! No more stinky water or clothes. Clothes came out much cleaner as well.

Is this the same with vinegar, or are you just using vinegar as only a softener?

My reason for using the vinegar is as a softner. I don't seem to have an odor issue with laundry or water. You could experiment with a load or two and see if the vinegar deals with the problem. Would be a nice savings if it works!

 

[Aisling]

I just bought my first gallon of vinegar! I always get the small bottles, so DH said "what do you need all that vinegar for?"

I have a PottyPatch on my back deck for my dog and the urine smell was really strong, even though I hose it down everyday, someones 3 or 4 times a day. I've used pine and other cleaners on it to get rid of the smell, but the mix of the two scents made it worse.

Well, i poured some vinegar on it and after about an hour, the smell is gone! I was afraid the vinegar smell on the Potty Patch would stop my dog from using it, but he's using it just as usual.

So another for vinegar!

 

[hipchickie]

I have turned into a vinegar freak in the last few months, I never used fabric softener before, but I dried my clothes in the dryer. Now I use vinegar, give them a toss in the dryer just to get off the lint and pet hair, and dry on the line - things feel just as soft! I too ran out once, and I tried to wash and hang out a towel UGH, it was as stiff as a board!!

I have also gotten a steam cleaner, and between that and vinegar, i have gotten rid of all my cleaning chemicals

 

[natale1980]

Did any one else read this as, "holy cow! WHAT a difference viagra makes!"

LOL!

-nat

 

[momtosam]

That's very interesting about putting it in you laundry. I'll have to try that.

It also works great for cleaning out you coffee maker. My family puts vinegar on their green beans. I always thought that was gross. Does anyone else do that?

We do that here! I thought it was a PA Dutch thing. My father holds a knife over the opening of the vinegar bottle to drizzle it out.

 

[momtosam]

I didn't have time to read all the posts, but I'm so excited to try this. I have two kids with eczema, so fabric softener is a no-no. I can't wait to get my fluffy wash back after years of not using softener.

 

[Carl Fredricksen]

Only read the 1st page, sorry, if this was asked. Can you use it with oxy clean powder? I normally put a scoop of oxy clean in each load.

Here is a recipe to actually uses a small dose of Oxy Clean, instead of the Baking Soda I have in the one I use (also has a little more Fels-Naptha). I have not tried it, as I am too cheap to buy the Oxy, but good luck if you give it a go (this site also promotes Vinegar for a fabric softener)

S.O.’s Home-Made Cheap Laundry Soap
1 bar Fels Naptha soap, grated (comes out to about 2 cups)
1 c Borax
1 c Washing Soda
1/4 c OxyClean (not necessary, but we add it)

You only use 2 TBS?...
...But if I can use only 2 TBS and get the same results I'm all for that!

Yep, 2 tbl is all we use, and the 4-5 "guinea pigs" I talked in to using this at work are using the same amount, even in HE machines. No one has seen anything but positive results with this amount so far.

I have bought the ingredients and made the soap, now I just need to convince my DH that this will work. He is such a skeptic, but I asked him how he thought people washed clothes before Tide and stuff like that. I guess we will see if the recipe cleans his clothes as well as Tide. I have faith, the DIS boards have never let me down before!!
I will post and let everyone know how it went after my first load.
I have a top loader and will use 2TBS plus 1/4 cup vinegar.

Wish me luck!!!

Saw your later post, and glad to see it worked out so well! My DW is very discerning about our laundry as well, and she has been on board since the first load.

 

[Nicolepa]

Yep, 2 tbl is all we use, and the 4-5 "guinea pigs" I talked in to using this at work are using the same amount, even in HE machines. No one has seen anything but positive results with this amount so far.

Cool! I will have to try it again using 2 TBL. Now that would be a huge cost savings. Not to mention I woulnd't have to make it as often.

 

[Carl Fredricksen]

Cool! I will have to try it again using 2 TBL. Now that would be a huge cost savings. Not to mention I woulnd't have to make it as often.

I did a basic cost analysis on the mix I use, and it worked out to about .03 cents per load

Makes me wish I had all the money I have spent on detergent over the years back. I could probably pay for my kids college