Homemade Laundry Detergent

I hate spending money on laundry detergent.  I always get the cheap brand because I can't justify spending $10 on a smelly soap just to wash my clothes.  Plus, I often wonder what is in that stuff and is it good to dump in our water?

So I came across this recipe for homemade laundry detergent.  It is VERY simple and easy.  I have used it and love the simple clean smell, and it does a great job of washing our clothes.  I have only made a couple of batches of this and have stuck to this recipe because I had the supplies.  I might experiment and try different bars of soap, but I have enjoyed the Ivory and Fels-Naptha mix so I might just stick with it.

Recipe...

1 Cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda

1 Cup Mule Team Borax

1 Bar Ivory Soap

Simply use a grater to shave the bar of soap.  Mix with the Borax and Washing soda.  I doubled the recipe the first time to try it out.  You can also make large quantities.  I also used half a bar of Ivory and half a bar of Fels-Naptha.  I purchased a glass jar to store it and use 2 tablespoons for each load.  Some recipes I found also call for Oxi-Clean.  I have found Oxi-Clean fades some of my clothes, so I opted out for that one.  Also, I read an article that Borax is not good for you.  For now, I will continue to use it, but I will be searching for an alternative.  I read somewhere that this only costs $1.56 for 56 loads of laundry.  I haven't done the math myself, but I can definitely see the low cost with this.  I spent about $9 for all three ingredients and I didn't use all of the ingredients either, just enough to fill my container.  I think I will easily be able to make another doubled or tripled batch with my remaining ingredients.

Also, this has sparked an interest to make my own dish washing soap and fabric softener.  I recently purchased the items to make them.  I will update you soon after I have made them and tested them.