Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I have been making my own laundry detergent for over a year and have saved a TON of money in the process.  I have a lot of dirty laundry - especially all those baseball pants that I have to wash every week - and this detergent cleans them right up. 
Three simple ingredients - Borax, Washing Soda and Fels-naptha bar soap.  

Step #1,  grate the Fels-naptha coarsely -
Warning - this is not cheese!  Do not eat this - I only share this with you because our daughter thought it was Coby cheese!  It sure doesn't smell like cheese Carrie!

Step 2:  Melt the grated soap in approximately 4 cups of water on low - takes about 20-30 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

Step 3:  After the soap is completely melted, pour into a clean 5 gallon bucket.  Add 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of Washing Soda.  Fill the bucket with warm water and stir to incorporate all ingredients. 

Ready to wash.  I use about 1/2 cup per load of laundry.  Some of this will turn into a gel like substance.  It's okay - just put your 1/2 cup in a jar with as much water, seal it and shake it up prior to adding to your washer. 

One batch of this lasts me almost 2 months and costs approximately $2.50. 

About those dirty baseball pants - I do spray them with Shout first and then let them soak all night in the washer with this detergent.  (I would do that with any detergent)

If you try this, I hope you like it as much as I do. 

Hope you are having a good week.  ~Ann

1 comment:

  1. I make my own detergent too, basically the same recipe as yours. I like to alternate the soaps with each batch for variety. Have a lovely day!
    ~Katherine

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Thank you for visiting my blog. I'm so happy to "meet" you through blog land. ~Ann