Really, who hasn't seen this one yet on Pinterest and made it or thought about trying it? I just wish I was one of those lucky gals that grew up making it so I would have had this knowledge sooner. On my journey to becoming more 'frugal'...this was my very first switch. I can't wrap my head around the amount of money I've wasted for the past 16 years being a loyal Tide and Downy Girl. I was VERY reluctant to try this, but eventually I justified making a batch of liquid laundry detergent with my boys as a 'science experiment'. After gathering all the ingredients, we made our own detergent.
Recipe
{it's the soap that does the cleaning of your laundry, NOT the bubbles. This recipe is safe for HE machines too!}
Ingredients
1 Cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 Bar of Fels-Napha (grated)
1 Cup Borax
5 Cups hot tap water
*Optional - 10 drops of your favorite essential oil
Directions
After grating your bar of soap, add to 5 cups of water in a pot. Stir over medium to low heat until soap dissolves and is thoroughly melted.
Fill a 5 Gallon bucket half way with hot tap water. Then add melted soap water, Borax, and Super Washing Soda. Stir till all is dissolved. (Add now your favorite essential oil scent). Fill bucket with 12 more cups of HOT tap water. Cover and let sit over night.
The next morning, stir your now thicken mixture of laundry soap. If you're using mason jars, empty gallon jugs, etc...make sure they are cleaned out first. Fill half way of your container with the soap you made, and the rest of the way with warm tap water and stir. And your done!
MACHINES
Top Load
Use 5/8 cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
Front Load
Use 1/4 cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)
It worked great, but I created a new dilemma...gallon jugs sitting all over our laundry room taking up space...{that eventually started to separate, but nothing a good swish couldn't fix!}. After I had my husband give away several jugs to his fellow co-workers {all of whom are welders and they loved this soap!}, I decided to give the dry powder mix a go using the same dry ingredients. Now I should also mention, I do have bad asthma - so I had to use a painters mask when mixing it up. Prior to doing laundry using powder, I have my a process: I make a kettle of hot water to start myself a cup of hot green tea. With remaining hot water, I have a glass cup for putting 2 tablespoons of detergent powder in to assist the soap to dissolve prior to adding it to the next load of laundry. I bought everything at a big box store for less then $10!
This is an update from my original *very first post that I accidentally deleted* I've yet to buy replacement Borax or super washing baking soda. Rather, only 2 bars of Fels-Naptha. $2!. MIND BLOWN. I've made 2 more batches in a years time. I've went back and sticking to making the liquid detg. Washing our clothes in cold water didn't seem to break down the powder mix enough...and I adapted using a few drops of Essential Oil to the liquid {my favorite is Lemon Eucalyptus! It smells great and keeps the ticks at bay}.
*This is not a sponsored/compensated post.
Have you ever tried making your own laundry detergent?
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