Make Laundry Detergent

Before you immediately write me off, let me just say a few things about making  laundry detergent! I’ve thought about it and researched it for several years, but never got around to actually doing it. I kept assuming it was messy or tricky or more expensive than it was worth.

Here’s the thing: I WAS WRONG. I just made a 5 gallon bucket of the stuff, and it took me less than 30 minutes. There was no mess, it was no  tricky, and when all is said and done, each load of  laundry  will cost me LESS THAN 1 CENT.

Let me say that again. ONE CENT. Per load. I’m serious. Without coupons, I find that Costco has the best prices on laundry detergent. Based on the current prices, one load of laundry with Costco detergent costs 52 cents. Math was always my worst subject in school, but even I know that it costs 52 times as much to use store bought detergent instead of my own.

I’m going to show you exactly how to do this, so that you can see it is more than worth it!! Let’s get going!

Homemade Laundry Detergent 

1 cup Washing Soda

1 cup bar soap, grated (I used Zote soap. Avoid any highly perfumed soaps.)

1 cup Borax

1 quart boiling water

Large bucket: my suggestion is to get a 5 gallon paint bucket with a lid. This will keep the detergent free of dust and other particles between uses.

First, gather your ingredients. These can be found anywhere. I purchased mine at  wal-mart . The total cost for the ingredients should be less than $10, and each box of Washing Soda and Borax will make several batches of detergent.

Next, grate your bar soap. This will be the only “tricky” step of the process. I’m super lucky to have a food processor , so it was very simple and quick for me. It’s completely fine to grate it by hand with a box cheese grater. This’ll take a bit of elbow grease.

Boil 4 cups  of water on the stove, then add the grated soap one scoop at a time until completely dissolved.

Fill your bucket about halfway with hot water. I do this using my shower head. Then add the Borax and Washing Soda and stir well.

Stir in your melted soap mixture. Mix well. Fill bucket the rest of the way with hot water.

YOU’RE DONE. no kidding. well, there are some additional things you CAN do, if you wanna be fancy. One way or the other you’ll need to leave the detergent alone overnight to allow it to set. When it has set, you’ll need to mix it up again…I mean REALLY get in there and mix it up… If you’re a super free spirited  mama, maybe you’ll invite your kiddos to come and and squish it around with their hands…if that makes your blood pressure sky rocket, you can just use a big paint stirring stick, or some such device.

Use 1/4 – 1/3 cup of detergent per load of laundry

• Containers: if you have the space, it’s absolutely acceptable to leave the detergent in the bucket next to your washing machine and just pull out enough for 1 load at a time. You can also use the following: laundry detergent bottles from when you were still paying WAY too much at the store, empty bleach containers (well rinsed), milk jugs, vinegar jugs ,potato salad containers, cat food jars, bulk shampoo bottles