Making Homemade Laundry Detergent

After using either Gain and Tide as our laundry detergent of choice for years, we were looking for something new.  The strongly scented laundry detergents were beginning to give Tricia fits.  The increasing price every time we went to the grocery store was giving us fits as well.  It so happened that some good friends of ours gave us a recipe for a "make your own" laundry detergent.  We tried it one time in early 2011 and have been making it ever since.  It allows us to save money as well as help out with allergies or sensitivities to the scents or chemicals in laundry detergent.

Tricia was making another batch today and photographed the process.  It is so simple to make.  Here's what you'll need to make your own laundry detergent:

• 1 five gallon bucket with lid
• 1 Bar of Fels Naptha soap
• 1 cup of 20 Mule Team Borax
• 1 cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
• Enough water to fill the bucket

The first thing you want to do is dissolve 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of Washing Soda in hot water.  Stir it up good and pour into the 5 gallon bucket and add enough water to half fill the bucket.

Then, grate the Fels Naptha soap.  We use a regular old cheese grater.  (Watch out for your knuckles!)

Add 4 cups of water to a pot with the grated soap and slowly simmer until the soap has melted or dissolved, stirring as needed.

Then pour the soapy mixture into the half full 5 gallon bucket that contains your dissolved Borax and Washing Soda.  Stir the mixture up real good and top it off with water.

This concoction will congeal somewhat overnight.  Save the measuring cup from your old laundry detergent (that you'll never use again) and use a couple of scoops per load of laundry.  We haven't priced it out to determine exactly how much it actually saves you, but it goes a long way, cleans the clothes nicely and definitely saves money in the family budget.  Who couldn't use a few extra bucks in your pocket these days?