Homemade Laundry Detergent

When I heard my friend Christy say she was making her own laundry detergent, I had to know how! It's so simple and cheap! I really had no idea how much money I would be saving when I did this. I thought maybe $10-$15 less, which was still a great savings for me! However, after doing the math (possibly incorrectly) I found that from the $11.68 I spent on buying this stuff, I will save over $70! There is only one purchase you need to make each time you make more which is the soap. It's 1.19 at Fred Meyer/Smith's so it's no biggie.

1 C Borax

1 C Washing Soda

1 C OxiClean

1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap (or Zote)

This is the worst part - shred the bar of soap like you would cheese - all of it! Put it in a 5 gall bucket. Boil 3 gallons of water (I did 1 gall at a time) and pour into the bucket with the soap. stir until it all dissolves. Add 2 gallons of hot tap water. You need to stir it throughout the day, probably at least once an hour to keep it from getting "jello-y" as Christy called it. Use 1/4 c for each load.

Now, if I did my math right (again - probably not), if you used these items only for making detergent then you will be able to make 1280 loads worth. Thats $1.46 per 160 loads which is what is in your 5 gallon bucket. That is insane!

There are so many uses for Baking Soda, Borax and OxiClean. So if you don't just want it sitting on your shelves, then you can use it for so many other things. I'll be looking for some more recipes to use them just to say I did. I know one thing I'll be using the Borax for - Harry's mattress!

***UPDATE

So apparently I bought plain 'ol Baking Soda. Silly me! Make sure you get Washing Soda. It still works and works great, but it will probably work better if you have actual Washing Soda in a yellow box! I actually love that there isn't a lingering scent of perfume when I pull them out of the wash. They just smell fresh. How cheesy is that? But I really do like it.

***UPDATE #2

I was trying to figure out what was so different with the clothes aside from the sweet perfume-y smell. I finally realized that the towels are all a lot softer and fluffier!

Thanks Christy! This is awesome!