Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap




Ingredients:

  • Borax
  • Washing Soda
  • Laundry Bar Soap (Fels Naptha)



Other things you'll need:

  • Cheese Grater
  • Measuring Cup (4 Cup or larger and a 1/3 Cup)
  • 5 Gallon Bucket
  • Pot
  • Cooking Spoon
  • Mixing Bowls (Optional)

Start by finely grating the Bar of Laundry Soap. Remember you only need 1/3 Bar of Laundry Bar Soap.


 I mark mine after measuring 1/3.



Next put the grated soap into a pot with 6 cups of water




 Heat until the soap melts evenly. It's pretty easy to tell when the soap is melted.




Next you'll add in the 2/3 Cup of Borax and the 2/3 Cup of Washing Soda.


Stir both of these into the soap until it is all evenly dissolved.As soon as the mixture is dissolved you'll need to pour it into your 5 gallon bucket. Add 4 Cups of VERY Hot Water. You'll know if your mixture is fully dissolved based on whether or not the mixture came out consistent or not when you pour it out of the pot. If there is any Borax or Washing Soda left then you didn't mix it good enough. It's not the end of the world because you can stir it more but let it be a lesson for the next time you make a batch of soap.


Stir the mixture evenly. This is your last chance to fully dissolve your mixture before letting it set.


Next you will add approximately 5 1/2 Quarts, or 22 Cups, of HOT Water to your five gallon bucket. Stir well for at least 2 minutes.




Finally place the lid on your 5 gallon bucket and let set for approximately 24 hours. At this time upon stirring the laundry soap it should have the consistency of that of store bought laundry soap.


Monday, April 22, 2013

Restoring Wood Flooring

Carpets can be a convenient way to cover up some flooring issues but they can hide some truly gorgeous floors. We just bought our house and previous owners had covered up the original wood flooring with carpet. The carpet glue has been stuck to these boards for years.

We started by removing the carpets and then began the long and arduous task of removing the carpet glue with razor scrapers after soaking it down with Butyl Cellosolve.


Then the floor sander that was rented was brought in and smoothed out the boards. This left a nice uniform look to the entire house.


We then applied a light stain which made all the various rooms with their various shades of wood from differentiating levels of wear to come together as one solid shade.


Finish that off with a nice finishing gloss coat... Or four, and we have ourselves some gorgeous looking floors.