Make Your Own

Homemade laundry detergent!

With just a few ingredients you can easily make your own laundry soap. Who knew it was this simple??

What you'll need:
20-Mule Team Borax
Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar Soap
You’ll also need a bucket that is at least 3 gallons and has a lid and a large pot that will hold at least 10 cups of water.

I found all these items at Harris Teeter. I'm sure you can find them at most grocery stores. The Fels-Naptha soap was $1.69 (it was on the laundry aisle) , the Borax was $5.39 (76 oz; also on the laundry aisle) and the washing soda was $3.49 (55 oz; also on the laundry aisle). I haven't gotten this far yet but from what I understand this will make 128 HE loads (which is the type of washer we have) so it's got to be a pretty massive savings.

Grate half of the bar of Fels-Naptha soap. Add the soap to a pot with 10 cups of water.  Heat until the soap dissolves. Thanks Mom, for saving me the trouble of purchasing a stock pot! :)

Add ½ cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda.

Add ½ cup of 20 Mule Team Borax.

Stir until dissolved. Pour 1 gallon plus 6 cups (22 cups) of cold water into your bucket. Add the soap mixture. Stir until well mixed. Cover.  Let sit for 24 hours.

Use ½ cup per load (¼ cup for HE washers).

This soap smells soooo good you shouldn't need to add any essential oils to it. It smells so clean. I loved making it and kept sniffing at it!

All my information for this came from Hallee.

If you want to be really snazzy you can get a dispenser like this and use that for dispensing it. :)