Homemade Laundry Detergent - It's Chic!

Seriously...everywhere I turn I'm hearing about people making their own laundry detergent now. I'm not usually one to follow the crowd, but I have to admit I've been a bit intrigued.

So when I was sitting in our Sunday school class the other day and overheard two friends mention they were planning to get together and try their hand at making a homemade laundry detergent recipe, I completely interrupted to announce, "I want to, TOO!"

So the next day three families all gathered for homemade pizza. After dinner, the dads took all the kids across the street to a local playground and we three moms headed outside to make our homemade laundry detergent.

We decided on a powder recipe as it was less work than the much more popular liquid recipes. And it was very easy to make.

Here's what you need:

A large sealable container
A cheese grater
1 bar of Fels Naptha soap (you can also use other strong bar soap like Ivory)
1 1/2 c. of washing soda
1 1/2 c. of borax

We got everything at a local grocery store.

All you do is grate your bar soap and mix everything together in your container. Very simple. We made 5 batches in less than 15 minutes and split it up equally.

Here's what it looks like:

The Fels Naptha soap has a nice, clean smell and the aroma fills up my laundry room while its washing, but it doesn't leave a smell at all on the clothes once they've been dried. You only need to add 2 Tbs. of the laundry detergent to each load of clothes. I add it in first and get the water going before I put in my clothes.

It's worked really great for me. I washed one of H4's blankets the other day...she calls it "softie" and carries it everywhere. It's a solid white, fuzzy blanket and had gathered many dirty stains from all the "love" it had received. It came out the wash stain-free except for two small pink spots of fingernail polish...it's not a miracle worker, afterall. But I was quite pleased!

We figured the cost at about $3.30 a batch and figured that one batch would last for about 96 loads. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

Our plan is to try the liquid version next to see which one we like best. I'll keep in you in the know!

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