Laundry Detergent Recipe

Laundry Detergent

MAKE YOUR OWN!

Usually laundry detergent is the highest priced item on my list when I am headed to the grocery store. In financially difficult times like these, every penny counts, so my friend recently showed me a way to help lower the cost of laundry detergent dramatically. I hope this can help you as well. I’m going to give you a simple recipe to make your own laundry detergent! This recipe will make 10 gallons of detergent which can be stored outdoors if there is not space inside. For a two person house hold this will last around 6 months or more.
I’ll give a few tips before I get started with the recipe. If you need a bucket to store it in, I suggest going to your local grocery store bakery and asking for empty icing buckets. They will usually give you empty ones (that they have not cleaned out) for free. These buckets are normally 5 gallon buckets with lids. Also, you could use old chlorine (for pools) buckets after they have been emptied. So, don’t go out and buy a bucket, ask around and you can usually find them for free. You will need two. Be sure to wash them out first! One last tip, if you are using store bought laundry detergent now. Save the empty bottle. You can fill it with your new, home-made detergent and leave the rest in buckets in an outdoor storage closest or somewhere else out of the way. (This way you can have a small easy to pour container in your laundry room.)

Ingredients:
4 cups of HOT tap water
1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap (around $1.25 on your laundry detergent aisle)
1 cup of Washing Soda (a 55 oz. box is around $3.79 on your laundry detergent aisle)*
½ cup of Borax (a 76 oz. box is around $4.79 on your laundry detergent aisle)*
*These items can be stored and used for your next batch, or you can use the borax for another project I’ll share after this!

Instructions:
Grate the bar of soap
Put hot water in a pan on the stove
Add grated soap and dissolve over medium heat
Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full with more hot tap water
Add Washing Soda, Borax, and dissolved soap mixture
Stir until powder is dissolved
Fill 5 gallon bucket to the top with tap water
Stir and cover overnight to thicken
Fill your second 5 gallon bucket ½ full with detergent
Fill both containers to the top with warm water
Shake and Use!
(Use ½ - 5/8 cup per load)