Homemade Laundry Detergent

I have been wanting to make my own laundry detergent for a couple of months now.  Today, with my son's help, we decided to tackle it.  And it actually wasn't that big of a task to "tackle."  :0)

I wrote the "Recipe" down for this detergent months ago, so I do not remember what website I ended up getting it from.  I do remember, however, doing a lot of research and trying to find the one that had the best reviews.  I also read the comments on the bottom of many posts.  I didn't want to put all that energy and money into something that seemed 'frugal' but I would end up throwing away because it just didn't work. 

Because of not wanting to waste money I also only made 1/3 of the recipe.

Homemade Laundry Soap

Ingredients:

(full recipe)

1 4 lb 12 oz box of Borax

1 4 lb box of Baking Soda

1 3 lb 7 oz box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

3 bars of Fels-Naptha Soap

2 small containers of Oxy clean powder

(1/3 Recipe)

 2 3/4 cups of Borax

2 3/4 cups of Baking Soda

2 cups of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

1 bar Fels-Naptha Soap

1 small container of Oxy clean powder 

Directions:

Grate your bars of soap as finely as you can.  This is where my son came in handy.  He had a great time!

Mix all of the ingredients together very well.  Mix, mix, mix.....

Store in an airtight container.  Use 1-2 heaping Tablespoons for each load of laundry.   

The recipe that I ended up using said that their laundry detergent lasted them 9 months.  We'll see how long my 1/3 recipe ends up lasting. 

All the ingredients that I purchased came to about $11 total.    I  believe I bought all the items, except for the oxy powder- that I purchased at the dollar store-, at our local Walmart.  I have had the ingredients on hand for several months, as I also wanted to make my own dishwasher detergent.  I was a little disheartened when the dishwasher detergent didn't really work, so it took me a long time to decide to try this laundry soap.  But I'm sure glad I did!

I was also surprised that the laundry after washed, had no smell.  I didn't expect it to smell dirty, I just expected it to smell like something.........but it doesn't.  From reading articles it sounds like some people mix essential oils and white vinegar and poor that in the fabric softener container 1/4 cup per load to soften the laundry and make it have a nice scent.  I haven't crossed that path quite yet.  I have done whites and colors, and both have turned out nice and clean.  I also have not noticed any stiffness or a need for softeners.

If you try it out, let me know what you think!!  I'd love to hear your experiences with homemade laundry detergent.

The soap is a value added to our remodeled laundry room.

PS - After using this for quite sometime we love it!  We are on our second batch.  A full one this time.  The detergent did last as long as it was expected to.

Many more great ideas to come.