Guest Post: Laundry Soap Recipe

Guest Post by teacup

 Trying to budget? To make the most of a dollar? Me too. Seeing a recipe online for some homemade laundry detergent was an inspiration...Yeah, I am certain there are many recipes out there (even one here by kaya) and they may all do a fairly decent job.

My goal is to save some money where it counts....bottle detergent just seems to be getting higher and higher in cost. When using less expensive detergent, it seems to come out of the bottle like water. So I  am not sure how much detergent is actually in there.

I had seen a recipe on Pinterest. I went out and bought the ingredients and in less than 15 minutes I had made a couple years supply of detergent for less than $25.00 that was including a fabric softener in there. If that was excluded, it would be less than $15.00 for a couple years supply so my mission was accomplished. Having detergent and saving money. (An alternative to fabric softener is vinegar.)


The test was using the detergent I made...it went very well. The clothes were clean, had a great scent to them, and clothes that I typically hang were soft and held the nice scent of the fabric softner. The clothes that were dried in the dryer came out very nice. Towels were soft and fluffy and no static cling at all...so meeting those requirements were a plus for me.  At this point, I am totally happy with the results and even more with the cost...using only 2 Tblsp of the end product will make the detergent last me a very long time...most likely years. I typically do no more than 2 loads of laundry per week.  I re-used the bottles that the Purex fabric softener Crystals came in to put the detergent in for easy pouring and the cap filled half way or so was all I needed.

Ingredients:
1 box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing soda  ($3.49)
2 boxes of baking soda (2 boxes for .98 - I used generic)
2 bottles Purex Crystals ($10.46 - optional all-together - you can use just one too...but I prefer a stronger scent so I used 2 )
2 bars of Fels-Naptha bar soap  ($2.08, I used a cheese grater to start but it was taking too long...so I broke out my old salad shooter and in 2 min. I had both bars grated...and I just crumbled it into the bucket...I hear using a food processer works too)
1 box of Borax ($3.38)
1 3lb box of Oxi Clean ($3.25 - got on sale.)

for a total of $23.64

To mix it all up I reused a clean old kitty litter bucket, but using a 5 gal bucket to mix it all in is recommended.

also add OxiClean 

grating soap

upcycle the Purex Crystal containers to use for easy adding to  washer

teacup Bio: Sometimes one just needs to be given the right map and then there are times when one just needs to make a leap of faith into the unknown. I'm a service-oriented slave from the suburbs of Chicago even though my heart lies in the beauty of Colorado. Even though the distance seems vast sometimes, I can't wait for opportunities to venture west to be with my family. I may be a little late comer to the lifestyle, but I'm forever amazed at what I've been missing out on. I have a wide array of interests and likes including photography, day trips, night excursions, football (Go Bears!), my pets and finding more efficient ways of doing things whether it's on the computer or the chores we all seem to have. FetLife Profile