Homemade Laundry Detergent

As a "born again hippie" I have been looking for ways to go green around the house. I hate all the chemicals that we dump down the drains and pollute the earth and our bodies with, and sometimes it seems like there's no avoiding it. Well, you can, you just have to be creative!

I have been researching homemade laundry soap for a couple months now. I'm really into the DIY Suzy-homemaker kind of stuff, but for some reason I kept putting this one thing off. I thought it was going to be a huge PITA, but I found out I was wrong.

There are two different types of laundry soaps you can make, liquid or powder. I originally was going to go with a liquid, but I didn't want to go buy a huge 5 gallon bucket to store it in, and you have to shake or mix it every time you do a load of laundry because it gels and separates. I buy the liquid detergent - born and raised on Tide - so I was out of my laundry comfort zone thinking about using a powder.

So here's what you need;

1 box Borax 20 Mule Team laundry aide

1 box Arm and Hammer laundry soda

1-3 laundry soap bars (I used Fels-Naptha because that's all my WalMart had) depending on how much you want to make.

1 large bowl for mixing and grating into

1 large wooden spoon to mix it

a container with an air-tight lid to store it in

a shredder (cheese shredder is just fine)

Directions;

grate your laundry bar, mix with:

1 cup Borax

1 cup laundy soda

(for one batch, it's 1 bar, 1 cup, 1 cup.. if that was unclear before)

Mix well. Mix very well.

You will get better results if you grate the bar rather than shredding it- the ingredients will mix together better that way.

Use 1-2 tbsp per load of laundry, depending on how soiled your clothing is. This isn't going to suds much, but it works!! I don't have one, but I have read this is also safe for HE machines because of the low suds.

Another perk? This mix will last you 6mo-1 year! Also... on average, Tide will cost approximately $0.25 per load, and this homemade mix will cost you about $0.05 per load! If you have sensitive skinned dirt magnets living at your house like I do, then this detergent is for you!!