The Homemade Laundry Detergent Revolution
I am part of the homemade laundry detergent revolution. Once I started it, I couldn’t go back. I just cannot justify paying that much money for it. Especially Tide….sheesh! Anyone can make it and it only took me about 30 minutes. Most of the time is spent getting the soap to melt. You can make this both liquid or powder. I prefer liquid because I wash most of our loads in cold water. Why cold water? Because warm water costs more and most of the time you really don’t need to. Plus, you can combine colors and whites (please note, I do not mix whites in with brand new color items). Okie dokie. Here’s the recipe:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap (I used Colgate Laundry soap)
½ cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
½ cup borax powder
Bucket (2-5 Gallons)
Grate the bar soap and put it in a pot. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Make sure to keep stirring so the soap doesn’t stick to the bottom. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it has dissolved. Go ahead and then remove it from the heat. Take 4 cups hot water and pour it into your bucket. Now add your soap mixture from the pot and stir. Now add 22 cups of water and stir. Then you just put the bucket up and let it sit for 24 hours. During this time it will gel up a little. It will look like egg drop soup. Once complete you will use 1/2 per load.
Now you can double this or whatever to make sure you have as much as you need. If you or your kidos have skin allergies I would make a small amount first just to test. My family has not had one bit of trouble. When you use this, it does not leave a smell to your clothes. So….if you’re like me and have to have that perfumey clean smell, make sure you use fabric softener or you can add some scented oil to the detergent. I absolutely love this and will never go back. Check back in with me and I will post a great homemade stain remover!
