Homemade Laundry Detergent

I have been wanting to try my own detergent for a little while now and finally did it a few weeks ago.  I purchased the items for the detergent and spent less than $12.00. 

For mostly all the detergent recipes you need the same ingredients

Borax, Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, and Fels Naptha soap.  Now all the recipes differ in the amounts you use, I have lots of dirty clothes with my boys so I decided to use one that is more concentrated and uses more of each item compared to the amount of water. 

The recipe I used called for

2 cups Borax

2 cups Washing Soda

1 bar Fels Naptha soap

And it was just this simple, first grate the soap

Then put the soap into a pan with 1 qt boiling water.  Stir until soap is completely melted. 

Next pour the soap into a large container where you will pour in the borax and washing soda until blended well.  Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed.  It will then need to sit for a day or two to gel up.  Mine does still separate but I have put it into gallon jugs which makes it easy to shake up for a few seconds before I pour it in my my washing machine. 

With the recipe I used I could make  3 batches of detergent without buying any more supplies.  That means you could make about 6 gallons of detergent and if you use 1/4 to 1/2 cup of detergent per load, it would last you between 192 and 384 loads.  We have a high efficiency so we only need to use about 1/4 cup but if you have a regular top loader you would want to use 1/2 cup per load.  We used to use Gain ( I have always loved the scent) and it was almost $11.00 for a container that said it would do 64 loads so for less than $12.00  I will have enough detergent to do almost 384 loads and that makes me happy.  I hate spending money on things like detergents! 

Also before you ask about the cleaning power, I have been using it for about 2 weeks now and haven't noticed any difference.  There is a different in smell, the detergent itself smells nice and clean but doesn't really put off a smell onto the clothing, if it does it's very mild.  And also it's safe for babies so no more two different types of detergent for this family we can now all use the same! 

I did try a powder recipe as well, but found the liquid works better with my machine, the powder wasn't quite getting all out of the dispenser.  But if you prefer powder here is an easy recipe I would recommend which was very quick and easy as well. 

If you are looking to save some money off of your grocery bill, here is one way to help!