Homemade Laundry detergent, Who would have thought!

The other day I decided to try to make my own laundry detergent. I have looked at several recipes on various occassions but I always decided against it as I didn't have the time or I figured it would be too messy and how well could it work afterall. I finally broke down and decided to try it with my I phone in hand I googeled several different recipes before I decided on one and tweaked it a little to my liking. Here is what I used.

2 cups Borax (found in the laundry section at Kroger and also at Ace Hardware)
2 cups of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (also found at the above named places)
2 cups of Fels naptha bar soap finely grated(I also made my powder detergent with bonner's bar soap which I got at HEB and both worked well, I have heard you can use Ivory, and Zote Bars of soap as well.

First I took a cheese grater and used the fine blade for hard cheeses and grated it over a bowl.

Then I took 4 cups of water and brought it to a boil, added the grated bar of soap and mixed until all of the soap melted into the water.

In a 4 gallon bucket I added the remaining dry ingredients and poured my melted soap and water into the bucket. I stirred well until everything was well mixed and then added 40 cups of warm water to the mixture and stirred for a few minutes.

Let the mixture sit for 24 hours and then mix well again. It will seperate and you will have to mix it up well. At this point I poured it into pint sized mason jars and sealed for storage. I use 14 - 1/2 a cup depending on size of load and filth. I have a HE top loader and it works well. There are very little if any suds from this detergent and I have had no issues. If you want an extra boost you can add some oxyclean but I have not needed it so far. As a stain treater, I wet the stain and rub my fels naptha bar of soap on it and then put it in the laundry.

This has saved a lot of money and makes you feel great when you know you are doing your part for the planet and your family but not rinsing harmful chemicals down the drain.

I think it costs a couple of cents per load, and I do scent it with essential oils. I have used lavender and vanilla, tee tree oil(which is great for cleansing) and also vanilla. I add just 2 or 3 drops to each pint sized jar and shake well. DONT use too much as it will over power you.

I hope you enjoy and give it a try it was simple and only took about 10 minutes from start to finish the very first time I made it.