Homemade Laundry Detergent

As a little experiment, I made this last year and started using it on the first of January.  We have gone OVER one year now and we still haven't even used HALF of what I made!  Keep in mind...there are 3 of us, so if there are 6320937 people in your family, you might use it a teensy bit faster. ;-)

This recipe is all over the internet and I couln't possibly tell you where it originated or I would try to give someone some credit here:

Powdered Laundry Detergent of the Homemade Persuasion:

1 Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 Box of Borax
1 Box of Pure Baking Soda
2 bars of Fels-Naptha
1 container of Oxy-Clean
Essential oils (optional for fragrance)

1. Grate the bars of soap.
2. Dump the entire boxes of everything together in a giant bowl with the grated soap.
3.  Mix it up. :D
4.  Divide among two 1-gallon containers.  I used 2 of THESE.  If you use two 1-gallon containers, you're not stuck lugging around 2 gallons of soap all year. ;-)

 

 

 

When doing your laundry with this soap, you literally only use about 1-1.5 Tablespoons per load. 

 

I put the soap in first, close the lid, let HOT water in for a few seconds to start soaking the soap (I'm not even sure if this is totally necessary), then put in the clothes, close the lid again and run it on whatever temp I want the clothes washed in.

 

My GF says that her black shirts fade a little too quickly, but I haven't noticed. 

 

Want a STAIN REMOVER?!

 

My daughter spilled curry soup on a brand new pair of WHITE denim shorts. She cried the whole way home.  As soon as she got home, I went to work...  I rinsed out what I could with cold water, sprinkled this soap on top, rubbed it in, then let it sit overnight.  The next day, I sprayed Resolve (yes, I cheated, but I'm convinced my soap was the best place to start) on the stains a few times, then proceded to machine wash them. 

 

The stain didn't come out after the first wash, but that was the only time I ever treated the stain.  It was barely visible, but it was still there...over the next couple of washes, it came completely out.  CURRY soup, you guys.