Home Made Laundry Detergent

This is a great way to save a TON of money over the period of a year.

Making your own laundry detergent takes only about 15 minutes, and it costs less than 10 cents per load! How much does your current store-bought laundry detergent cost per load?

To figure it out, divide the cost of the bottle of detergent by the number of loads. For example, the detergent I used to use cost $16 a bottle for 24 loads. That means that the average cost per load was $0.67. So, when I was doing one load per day, I was spending $244.55 on laundry detergent alone per year!! Wow, when I actually figure out the details, that was costing me a fortune!!

Now, say making your own laundry detergent only costs about $0.08 per load, that would cost $29.20 per year!! That is a yearly savings of $215.35!!

Have I convinced you yet to at least try making your own laundry detergent?!?

Here is the recipe that I use to make my own laundry detergent.

INGREDIENTS

water

1/2 cup washing soda

1/2 cup borax

1/3 bar of soap (I use Fels-Naptha - it cleans the best. The two most widely recommended brands are Fels-Naptha and Ivory because they are the least perfumed and are more natural)

METHOD

• Heat 6 cups of water almost to the point of boiling. Add the 1/3 bar of soap in grated form and stir until it is melted.


• Add the 1/2 cup borax and 1/2 cut washing soda and continue stirring until the powder is dissolved, remove from heat.


• Add 4 cups of water into a clean pail. Add the soap mixture and stir well.


• Add 3.79 litres plus 6 cups of cold water into your mixture and stir again.


• Transfer your mixture into a large plastic pail with a lid or into individual containers. Old, clean laundry detergent containers work well.


• Let the mixture sit at least 24 hours before using. It will gel over, but inconsistently.


• Give the laundry detergent a good stir before each use. Use 1/2 cup per wash load.


• For heavy stains, you can rub a little bit right into the stain before washing, and the stain should lift right out (that is why I use Fels-Naptha - I have an 18 month old boy who gets into everything!).


• If you like perfumed laundry, you can add a little essential oils to your detergent.

Using this method should take you no longer than 15 minutes to make. It may take a little longer at first, until you get used to making the detergent.

If you are expecting a lot of sudsing action, you will be disappointed. This detergent does not suds up like most traditional soaps, making it perfect for high efficient laundry machines as well as traditional ones.

Not only does making your own laundry detergent save you a TON of money, but it is also environmentally friendly. Think of all of the garbage that is not made. Also, the ingredients are all phosphate free, which is great for those on septic systems (such as ourselves). There are no harsh chemicals or dyes found in homemade laundry detergent, which means that it is also hypoallergenic.

I hope that I have at least convinced you to try to make your own laundry detergent. It is easy and extremely cheap!