DIY Laundry Detergent

Finally. Laundry Detergent!

This recipe is very similar to the Dishwasher Detergent I posted earlier this month. It has a couple more ingredients and takes a lot more elbow grease, but it, too, makes a large amount and lasts a long time.

I found this recipe in the same blog as the Dishwasher recipe, Being Creative to Keep My Sanity. Here is the link to the recipe: Laundry Detergent.

Here is all that you will need:

Borax, A&H Baking Soda AND Super Washing Soda, 3 bars Fels Naptha, and if you really want your stains to be gone, then you want to use Oxi Clean or something along those lines. 

First you want to grate your Fels Naptha bars.

This is where the elbow grease comes in. If you have an HE Washing machine, then you want to grate the soap as small as you can. I have this grater that I use for zesting, so I used that and it worked great. If you have a non-HE washing machine then you can use a larger cheese grater. You can also try using a food processor. Using the small grater definitely took a long time to grate 3 bars....and as always safety first...I may have gotten careless/bored and didn't pay attention....and ended up grating my fingers.

Ouch.

Once you have finished grating the bars of soap and applied any needed band-aids, you mix all of your ingredients together in a 5 gallon bucket lined with a garbage bag.

Mix thoroughly.

You will again need the elbow grease for this step.

Once you mix all of your ingredients together, store the mixture in an air-tight container. I used the larger version of the container I bought for the Dishwasher soap. The larger one has a spout and a handle on it and can be found at Walmart.

I also took the scoop that came with the Oxi Clean and use it for the detergent. Win!

I have been using this detergent for a couple weeks now along with the DIY Fabric Softener and our clothes come out clean and smelling nice.

Here's the recipe:

1 4lb box Borax

1 4lb box A&H Baking Soda

1 box A&H Super Washing Soda

3 bars Fels-Naptha

1 3lb container of Oxy Clean or 2 small containers (store brand works, too)

Grate Fels-Naptha in large bowl. Grate very small if using HE washing machine.

Mix all ingredients in 5 gallon bucket lined with garbage bag.

Store in air-tight container.

Use 2 Tbsp per load.

I hope this recipe works as well for you as it does for me!