DIY: Laundry Detergent

Have you ever attempted making your own laundry detergent? I have just started recently but I'm sold! I like how it smells. I like how inexpensive it is. I like that it only takes about 5 minutes to make. I searched the internet for different homemade laundry detergent recipes and most are very similar. Here's my recipe based on my preferences:

The Ingredients:

1. Fels-Naptha soap. This soap is incredible. It is very powerful and it smells so fresh.

2. Washing Soda. (Not baking soda!)

3. Borax. I knew that this was made for laundry but had previously only used it mixed with glue to make gak in elementary school... Borax's purpose is to make clothes brighter and remove odors.

I found all of the ingredients in the laundry aisle at Walmart. I also found them all at Publix but the soap cost a bit more there.

How to:

1. Grate 1/5 of a bar of Fels-Naptha soap into a large pot.
2. Add 4 cups of water and stir over medium heat until all soap shreds melt.
3. Add 1/4 cup of Washing Soda and 1/4 cup of borax and stir just until they dissolve.
(You can also stir in 1/2 oz. of an essential oil at this point if you want. I don't.)
4. Remove from heat and stir in 12 cups of water (room temperature or warm). Ta Da! You did it!
5. Pour into container. I pour it into a leftover, empty laundry detergent container (1.17 gal). Other people put it into a bucket or a pretty dispenser etc. As the detergent sits, it will gel a bit more.

How much to use:

Use 1/2 cup of detergent per load of laundry. Provides enough for 32 loads.

How much does it Cost:

Just over 1 cent per load!
Fels-Naptha: $0.97 for 5 oz bar. 1/5 of bar= $0.19
Washing Soda: $3.97 for a 55 oz box. (1/4 c. washing soda weighs 2.2 oz.) 
1/4 c. washing soda= $0.16
Borax: $3.97 for a 65 oz box. (1/4 c. borax weighs 1.8 oz).
1/4 c. borax= $0.11
$0.19+$0.16+$0.11= $0.46 for the recipe. Under 50 cents for 1 gallon of detergent.

Forty-six cents for the entire recipe. Each recipe provides enough detergent for 32 loads. So each load costs just over a penny!


I've enjoyed making this. Hope you will, too! :)