Laundry detergent. Is too expensive.
Last weekend I made powdered laundry detergent for the first time and I love it! Plus it was so cheap, which is a major bonus. Stephanie May is also going to make her own laundry detergent soon but she will be trying the liquid form, so maybe she’ll post a DIY of that too.
Easiest “recipe” ever and all ingredients can be found at any grocery store, Target or Walmart:
1 Cup Borax
1 Cup Washing Soda
1 Bar of Grated Soap(Fels-Naptha, Zote, Etc.)
Mix them all together in an airtight container and use 2 Tbsp. per regular load of laundry and enjoy.
You can also add drops of essential oils to give it different scents but I didn’t have any on hand and I am actually enjoying the fresh almost-non-existent smell of my laundry soap.
*One tip is that a bar of Zote soap is more like 3 bars of Fels-Naptha so when I used the bar of Zote I actually used 3 cups of borax and 3 cups of washing soda.
Minus the amount of time it took to grate the soap (which felt like FOREVER), this was so much easier than I thought it would be and I will definitely be doing this from now on. Stephanie’s husband, Tristan, had a great idea about using the grater on their food processor to do the soap instead of by hand. I will try that next time for sure.
Have a safe weekend friends!
Pearl
Oct 28, 2011 -
My Audrey has been making her own liquid laundry detergent for a few years now. She loves it! Come to think out it so does my brother. I’ve thought about making my own but I keep pushing the idea out of my head cause its just easier to buy it. ;) Someday I’ll give it a try.
I was thinking the same thing Tristan …..great minds. ;)
Tara
Oct 29, 2011 -
Does it smell good?
Stephanie May*
Nov 1, 2011 -
Yes, I need to make my liquid detergent soon! I think I am going to add some essential oil if I can….
Audrey K.
Nov 1, 2011 -
Making it liquid is SO easy too! I make 5 gallons at a time (2 bars, 2 cups each of the washing soda and borax plus the water to bring it to the fill line on my bucket)
As for my mom, I may have to make a bucket for her! :)
Stephany
Nov 3, 2011 -
Ok I have a question… I bought all the stuff to make this because as you can imagine Laundry in our house is ALWAYS being washed and it is quite expensive. I just don’t know how much of the mixture to use per load of laundry. Thanks so much for posting this!! I think it will save us a TON of money.
Stephany
Nov 3, 2011 -
Oh wow I just re read your post and found my answer! Guess I should have had my coffee before posting! Thanks again!
Stormie
Nov 3, 2011 -
No problem Stephany! :-) You can also boil it with water to make liquid soap if you prefer that over powdered…I’ll tell Stephanie to post that soon because I’m not quite sure on the amounts…