Homemade Laundry Detergent

I know a lot of you may already be making your own laundry detergent. Or if you're like me, you wait for awhile to see if the hype goes away, or if it's something that seems to really work.

From what I'm hearing, it really works. So I finally jumped on the bandwagon and decided to test it out.

Everything you need to make this version is shown above:

1 4 lb. box of baking soda
1 4 lb., 12 oz. box of Borax
1 box (just under 4 lbs) of Super Washing Soda
1 3 lb. tub of OxyClean (optional)
2 bars of pink Zote soap (you can opt for white which is unscented)
1 55 oz. bottle of Purex Crystals fabric softener

The cost of all these ingredients came to $28.65, with everything but the Borax bought at Walmart (they were out of Borax). Being conservative, if I get six months out of it, that is a cost of just over $4.75 a month--a savings of over $10 per month in my family. We're talking $84 for six months of store bought detergent vs. $28 for homemade. If it cleans well, it's not a contest.

As I'd heard, the hardest part is grating up the Zote soap (or Fels Naptha works too). It takes awhile, and I enlisted two happy helpers when my arms got tired.

They really were HAPPY about it--so I'll have no trouble getting them to help me when I need to make some more!

I divided up the ingredients and kind of layered them in a huge stainless bowl for easier mixing. It makes a lot!

I used the empty OxyClean tub and Purex bottle to hold my homemade detergent, as well as an empty large plastic tub that had held laundry soap pods. I thought it would be easier to store that way instead of in a 5 gallon bucket.

Now, for regular loads, you use 1 T. of detergent, and 2 T. for large loads. I'm washing my first load with it now--a dirty bathroom rug--so I will know right away how well it cleans. I'll let you know what I think of it and how long it lasts me.