DIY Laundry Detergent

So, I've talked with a bunch of people who make their own laundry detergent and decided I would take a go at it! It's a much cheaper alternative to regular detergents found on the shelves of grocery stores. An average 1.5 gallon of Tide is somewhere around 18$ and you get around 110 loads. The cost of all the ingredients used for this do-it-yourself homemade laundry detergent was around 10$ and can get almost 375 loads.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

1/2 Cup Borax

1/2 Bar of grated Fels Naptha bar soap

3 Gallons of Water

A 5 Gallon Bucket

First add 4 to 5 cups of water to a pot and bring to a boil. Grate your soap.

Add the shredded soap to the boiling water and bring down temp to a gentle boil/simmer. Don't throw it all in once so it doesn't clump. Stir and allow the soap to dissolve.

After the soap has dissolved, leave on stove and fill your 5 gallon bucket up with 3 gallons of water (LUKEWARM). Now add your 1 cup of washing soda and 1/2 cup Borax and stir so it all dissolves. Then add your dissolved soapy water from your pot on the stove to the 5 gallon bucket and stir.

At this point, you are good to go! If you would like, you can add some essential oils for an added aroma. I added 15 drops of Lavender oil to my mix.

 Let your mix sit for 24hours. The consistency will be a somewhat jello-like substance the next day. Add 1 cup or less to your laundry load for clean and clean smelling cloths!! 

(Some people make the recipe a little different. Feel free to experiment with different types of bar soap. Some people do not add borax, and feel free to try different essential oils for aroma!)