Homemade Laundry Detergent!!!

Wow..it feels like a lifetime since I posted on my blog...I have been neglecting all my crafting duties and basically becoming and absolute slacker when it comes to creativity. But I still have an obsession with Pinterest and frequently hawk the boards for ideas, recipes, crafts, and just about anything that I don't have the gumption or energy to do. Recently I have seen numerous pins about making your own laundry detergent, and as a crazed coupon queen, I'm always looking for a way to save on this type of household necessity. I hate when I have to spend money on things like cleaning supplies. Yes, I love a clean house, but dang it..why must I spend a fortune and breathe deadly chemicals in order to get it...I know some of you will say try the green friendly cleaning products, but I have...and honestly, either this family is too trashy for Green or they just don't work...I'm going with the latter... Anyway, I decided to try this idea of homemade laundry detergent...I read all the reviews and blog post comments and it seemed like everyone was having real success with it. I also wanted to make sure I wasn't going to screw up my HE front loader machine...my husband and my bank account would not be happy if I ended up saving a few bucks, just to turn around and spend quadruple to replace this machine. I did my homework and figured how much all the ingredients would cost and if I thought it would save me money. Well, I'm not a math whiz, in fact, I am the opposite of a math whiz, I'm probably the most unmathly(obviously not a word) person that walked the Earth...so I don't know the amount per load it will save me, but I truly feel it will be quite a bit and enough to put forth the effort to try it. In addition, this amount of detergent should last me a good 9 months. So, here is the link from the original poster...if you get a chance, I would read some of the comments...it gives great advice as to how others have tweaked it to suit their tastes. Below is what I did:

Homemade Laundry Detergent

1 4lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz)

1 4lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg)

1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz)

1 Bottle of Downy Crystals (any scent)

3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap

 3 lb container of Oxy Clean or store brand Oxy Clean

(this is optional)

I found all these items on the detergent aisle of my local Walmart

 

**Use 1-2 Tablespoons per load. I know that does not seem like enough but this recipe does not have fillers like the store bought detergent so you only need 1-2 Tablespoons.Your water will not suds up, which is why it is good for HE machines, and I add the detergent straight to the drum of my machine, not the cup drawer. **

Your first step will be to get a large enough bucket that will hold about 2lbs of laundry detergent...I used a 3lb. bucket lined with a garbage bag (to help with the mixing).

Grate the soap...this is the part that takes the most time...but it only took me about 5 minutes to do 3 bars!



Grated Soap!

Now, if you have a High Efficiency machine, you must grate the soap even more...I used the pulse setting on my food processor. Don't use the "on" setting, if you grind it too much it will melt and become a blob...don't let your soap become a blob!!



Add your ingredients one by one into a 3-5 gallon bucket (I lined my bucket with a garbage bag) or get your little helpers to add it for you
. VERY IMPORTANT-if you have young one's helping you, remember that the ingredients will cloud, be careful that they don't inhale any harmful fumes..and remember that if they get soap on their hands, it WILL burn their eyes if they touch them....just a little helpful  hint from me to you, after spending 30 minutes rinsing my 9 year old's eyeball!!

 

Borax

Oxy Clean

 

These are the Downy Crystals...they smell so good!

Washing Soda...don't forget to add your grated soap!!

Now stir it up really, really good!!!

Once we finished adding all the ingredients and mixing it with a spoon, I took the garbage bag out, tied the top and mixed it around with my hands...just to make sure it was all good and blended. I added it back to the bucket and transferred a portion of it to my decorative glass laundry jar...woohoo! As an added bonus, my house smelled good for days!

 I have noticed a difference in my laundry...not only does it smell faboo...but it seems to be brighter and whiter. Even without a degree in math, I figure it isn't too bad to spend less than $20 for 9 months of laundry detergent and 15 minutes of my time. Good luck and hopefully all of you who had a curiosity of how it all works and if it was any good, will want to try it for yourselves.

Happy washing!!!