DIY Laundry Detergent

When I first heard of DIY laundry detergent, I fully dismissed it.  The second time I heard about it, I was much more willing to look into it.   I had fully dismissed cloth diapers and now look at me... 9 months disposable free and it's so much easier than I thought.  I figured this might be the same.

So after some searching around, I found a very simple "recipe" and it looked very easy to do so yesterday I gave it a try.

I got all of the ingredients at Walmart.

Borax $3.38

Arm & Hammer Washing Soda $3.24

Fels-Naptha Laundry Soap Bar $0.97

1/2 in dowel $0.87 (I had to get this to stir, I had nothing long enough at home.  A yard stick would work though.)

First you shred the Fels-Naptha bar.  I did this with a cheese grater, not sure how else you would shred it.  This was the most annoying part of the process for me because I don't exercise and my arms got tired, haha.  Looked like grated cheese when it was finished.  Smelled good though.

 Next, you add the grated Nels-Naptha to 4 cups of water in a medium saucepan.  On medium-low stir until the soap is completely dissolved.

 The gal I got this recipe from (http://www.mykitchenescapades.com/), says to use a 5 gallon pail but as I had none, I had to use a 30 gallon garbage bin (cleaned out of course).  Put 2 1/2 gallons of hot water in the pail and add 1 cup washing soda, 1/2 cup borax and your dissolved soap mixture.  Stir until everything is dissolved.  Then add another 2 1/2 gallons hot water and give it a good stir.

 Then you let it sit overnight.  In the morning, it is rearing to go! 

 It turns into this gelatinous, jello-y muck.  Don't worry, this is how it is supposed to look.

 Since I stupidly threw away my laundry detergent bottles, I had to use what I could find.  Fill your container up with half the soap mixture and half with hot water.  Give a good shake and you are ready for laundry!  Use 1/2 cup to 5/8 cup with a top loader.

This "recipe" will make enough soap for 220 loads with a top loader and 660 loads with a front loader.  Please tell me this isn't worth the effort to do?  And it was barely any effort.  Took me less than a half hour to do.  I think my total ended up being less than $2 to make (since you don't use anywhere near all the borax and washing soda) and Max says it probably will save up to $40!

I tried out my new soap this morning and it works great!  You can always add different essential oils to your mixture if you want to add a different scent but I liked the scent it had already.  No need to add more cost for this gal.