Sunday, February 19, 2012

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I was visiting my friend Whitney a few weeks ago & while I was there she was telling me about how she was going to make detergent. I was impressed! Then she told me how easy it is & how much money she was planning to save by making her own... then I was super impressed! So here it is:

Many people use Fels-naptha soap I chose Octagon because it's what I found! I will say Fels-naptha has a much more piney scent & it's softer & easier to grate.
The ratio is as follows:
1 cup super washing soda
1 cup borax
1 bar of soap

Grate your bar of soap into a bow (A friend, Ellie, told me it's best to use a metal bowl to avoid your plastic one smelling piney... if you use Fels-naptha). This is by far the most tedious processes... but it's definitely worth it!

After that combine your powders with your soap in the container you'll be storing your detergent in. I didn't buy anything fancy... I found this one at the dollar store (and it's made in America if you're into that whole thing!)
This holds up to 1 gallon & it was $1... win win.
Now you could be done. However my friend, Ellie, also informed me you get a better mix if you throw this in your food processor! I tried it & she was right. The soap gets more fine & everything gets mixed really well, I definitely suggest this step if you have a food processor.

One more thing, I love scents (good ones only). Your clothes will smell clean without adding anything else (I tested this out on my husband's socks after an entire day of fishing & it's true... it works). BUT like I said I love scents. So you can add oil to your mixture! I used one of my favorite Glade scents, Sunny Days.

I used 5 bars of soap, 5 cups of borax, & 5 cups of super washing soda to make 12 cups of detergent! You only have to use 1 tablespoon per load!!! Which means I don't have to but anymore detergent for 192 more loads! This is definitely cheaper.


2 comments:

  1. We do this too! I love that it's cheap and I know exactly what goes into it- no weird ingredients that I can't pronounce.

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  2. This was one of the best things I ever did! I told Whitney and several others about it, and no one's been disappointed yet! A big thanks to Pinterest for this one.

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