Annnnnd I’m back. I recently went back to school (I’m a kinder teacher)… and let me tell you, for a while – I did not have ducks, I did not have rows… I had squirrels and they were everywhere. But, thankfully – five weeks in… I am back to having rule abiding ducks.. and small semblance of sanity.
So, if you read my last post you, you will know that our washing machine had retired without notice. We figured out that it was broken when I went to transfer a load of towels to the dryer and was met with, what seemed like, 100 pounds of soaking wet towels. Cue hanging the clean towels out on of the fence in our back yard and draping the sheet on a ladder from the garage. After we went hunting for a new washing machine (on Facebook marketplace, online and then in four different stores), we came home with a brand new load auto sensing machine. I felt very fancy. But, it also got me thinking…. were there any vintage methods that I could implement into my laundry routine? Yes, of course there were!
The first thing that I decided to try was actually making my own laundry detergent. My father has been using what he calls “wishy washy super soap” (which is named after a joke that I will provide at the end of the post) for a few years now and he had always told me that it worked like a dream. I was skeptical, of course, having been using Arm and Hammer detergent from the supermarket for as long as I could remember. But when my father told me that his “wishy washy super soap” was hypoallergenic, gentle on fabric and yet so effective that it cleaned my brother’s oil soaked work pants – I knew I had to at least try some. So, I asked my dad for a free sample.
I was really pleasantly surprised. My clothes came out of the wash clean, brighter and, oddly, softer feeling. By the time I used the last of the sample, I knew I wanted to keep going.
So what is “Wishy Washy Super Soap”? The ingredients are Fels-Naptha bar soap, Borax laundry booster, any brand of oxygen bleach (I used Oxy-clean) and Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (which is not the same as baking soda…).
You grind up 3 cups of Fels-Naptha (which is about 1 and half bars) and mix it with 7 cups of Borax (0r the entire box)and 7 cups of washing soda (or the entire box). If you want to add the oxy-clean (for extra whitening) then just add a small tub to the mixture. I used a dollar store cheese grater to grind up the Fels-Naptha but I have seen people use an old blender. In fact, on the Youtube channel One Good Thing by Jillee – she shows you how to do that. That video is called Make a year’s worth of laundry soap for $30.
Which brings me to my next point – is it cheaper than buying store bought laundry soap? Yes. Yes, it is. Let’s price it out on Amazon (since it ships everywhere): Arm and Hammer Washing soda (1 box) will run you $4.12, Borax is $11.00, 2 bars of Fels-Naptha is $8.22 and last, but not least, Oxy-Clean will be $7.71. According to my Amazon cart – you can buy all of the ingredients for $31.05. Now, if you leave out the oxy-clean (or use the dollar store equivalent) it will be even less. I also think that Amazon is over charging for Fels-Naptha, so I would recommend looking for it at a physical store.
Now, making this recipe also requires you to have a place to store this detergent. I went to the Dollar Tree and bought 3 small containers to keep my soap in. I bought one of the shoe box organizers as a container to grind my soup bars into and to keep my cheese grater and measuring cups in ( I also bought the grater and measuring cups while I was there because I don’t fancy possibly eating soap…). Then I went to the kitchen storage container area and purchased 2 of the largest tupperware type containers to actually hold the finished laundry soap. This being said we will add another $5.33 to the price. This brings the final total of the price to make this soap to $36.38. This price will go down to around $31.05 next year when I have to make it again.
Yes, I said, “next year”. You can get a full year of laundry loads out of this recipe. If you were to purchase name brand soap from Amazon every month (I’m assuming you do multiple loads every week) it would cost you $100.20 after sales tax. So, making this soap will save you $69.15 per year on laundry detergent. That is almost a 70% savings. I’d say that’s a pretty good deal. I’ve been using this soap for a month or so now and I’ve barely made a dent in it because you only need to use 2 tablespoons per load.
I definitely recommend trying this recipe. It’s hypoallergenic, gentle on skin and fabric, cleans really well, and it will save you money.
Now, for that joke I promised you. This is why my Dad calls it “Wishy Washy Super Soap”: *please read the salesman’s part with a little bit of a lisp*
A housewife hears a knock at the door and goes to see who it is. On her porch, she greets a traveling salesman. “Why, hello there Madam. I was wondering if I could have a few minutes of your time to tell you all about this new miracle clean agent – Wishy Washy Super Soap?” The woman takes a moment to contemplate and agrees to let the man in. So, the salesman sets himself up in kitchen with a basin, some warm water and, of course, his Wishy Washy Super Soap. “Madam, would you be so kind as to provide me with something that you intended on washing?” he asks. So, she goes and gets a pair of her husbands socks. The salesman adds the socks to the sudsy basin and, as he scrubs them together, goes, ” Wishy Washy Super Soap, Wishy Washy Super Soap, Wishy Washy Super Soap”. He pulls the socks out of the water and wrings them out and says, ” Put em up to your nose – the smell like a rose”. The housewife says, “Well, those really weren’t that dirty…” “By all means, give me a challenge,” declares the salesman. Provided a tee-shirt, the salesman goes again, ” Wishy Washy Super Soap, Wishy Washy Super Soap , Wishy Washy Super Soap. Put it up to your nose and it smells like a rose”. “Alright… but my husband isn’t much of a sweater… soooo.” “By all means”, declares the salesman. The housewife comes back into the kitchen with a pair of her husband’s boxer shorts. The salesman chuckles as he dunks them into the sudsy water, “Wishy Washy Super Soap, Wishy Washy Super Soap, Wishy Washy Super Soap…. put it up to your nose and it smells like a ….”, with a panicked look in his eye, he plunges the shorts back into the water…..
Smirking, the housewife shows the salesman out…. 🙂
The Time Warp Wife 