Drier Sheets

New rinsed sponges or old wash cloths cut into 1/4ths

Combine ½ oz of liquid fabric softener with a pint of water.
Put the sponges into the mixture and squeeze excess liquid out.
Let dry and store on top of drier.



Also, using 1/4 cup vinegar in your laundry's rinse cycle keeps clothes soft. You can set aside a vinegar jug just for laundry and add about 2 dozen drops of your favorite essential oil to the vinegar if you'd like.

Laundry detergent

1 bar grated Ivory soap (or Fels Naptha, if you can find it)
1 cup Borax
1 cup washing soda.
Water

Put the soap, borax, washing soda and 1 quart hot tap water in a pot and bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally. It will get a little bubbly. Keep stirring until all the ingredients are dissolved.

Put 5 more quarts of hot tap water in a bucket. Add the soap mixture and stir until it’s well mixed. Let it cool. It gets really slimy as it cools. And it will still be a little lumpy.

I store in a big clear sweater tub with a lid. I scoop it out with an old ¼ cup.
I like that it is so cheep and easy to make. I have tried scenting it but prefer not to.

(If you cook on low for two days, you don't need to gate the soap.)


UPDATE:

You can make it in the crockpot!!!

Dump the ingredients into your crockpot with some water on low all day. No need to grate the soap. When the soap is dissolved, dump with more water into your container then let cool.

This turned out the best consistency of any time I have made it. The only reason I even tried this was because we just got a gas stove and the vent is not yet hooked in, so I didn't want to set it on the stove on low all day.