Dan and I before we bought our house we had discussions about the type of cleaning products we would like to use around our home. We use some pretty basic ingredients and in the long run we save more money. I use a mixture of vinegar,borax,a drop of dishsoap and then fill with water to wipe things down around the house. I also use peroxide,rubbing alcohol and I have been told to you olive oil on your wood work but I have yet to try that one. But the main thing I get questions about all the time is our homemade laundry detergent. If you look there are many recipes on Pinterest and all over the internet. It is really a matter of personal preference and the amount of time you have. Most people I know just use a powder recipe but I prefer more of a liquid detergent. So I’m just going to toss my recipe down.

What You Need:
2 bars laundry soap most people use fells naptha(I use whatever laundry bar kmart sells)
1 box Borax
1 box washing soda(not baking soda there is a difference)

a big soup pot that you will only use for this( I would get one from the thrift store)
an empty container( empty vinegar containers work great but you can also use old detergent bottles)
an old cheese grate (you wont want to use it for anything else when you are done)
a funnel
a ladle
liquid measuring cup and dry measuring cup

You can find most of the products in either the laundry aisle or the cleaning aisle of any story..I know that Walmart carries the washing soda it can sometimes be hard to find

Your first step is to grate up the bars of soap. You wont use all of the soap at once. First boil 3 cups of water and then add 1 cup of the laundry soap. I usually use a semi low heat the longer it takes it seems the better the detergent comes out. Once the soap disolves or melts add 1 cup of borax and 1 cup of the washing soda. Mix it all together, Add 2 cups warm water make sure everything is thoroughly mixed in before you remove the pot from the heat. Because I use plastic jars I add 12 cups of luke warm to cold water.. If you are using a glass container or a metal pan to keep the detergent in you want to use hot water. After you add the cold water stir it for about a minute. It should have begun to thicken up or look something like a slime. Put your funnel into your empty container and ladle the detergent into the funnel. As the detergent begins to thicken it can get clumpy you might need to help the detergent get through the funnel( I just stick my finger in the funnel and push the clump through). You should wait 12-24 hours before use. The detergent does separate when it sits make sure to shake it before use. The recommended use is a 1/2 cup per load. It really depends on the load size and how dirty it actually is. I normally use about 1/3 cup per full load in my front loader. I have made a total of 10 batches so far and I have used about 3/4 of my laundry soap, and I still have a little under half of the box of borax (and I use that for other things also) and quite a bit of washing soda left. I paid about $3.00 for both bars of laundry soap about $3.99 on my Borax and I’m not sure what the price of the washing soda is, it was given to me by my mother-in-law. In the long run it is really reasonable price wise. My first batch lasted close to 3 months. My household consists of myself and I work in a paint department, Dan and then my 10 year old son Raven. He is the type of child that dirt finds him no matter what he is doing. One of my first uses of the laundry soap was his orange winter coat and it had mud stains all over it. One wash and it looked brand new. Making your own detergent is not for everyone I would recommend cutting the recipe in half and trying it before you make a bunch of it. This recipe is actually doubled and due to the amount of water that the recipe uses I have never made more than a triple recipe at once. The best part of this laundry detergent is if it doesn’t turn out perfect you can still use it. If it stays a liquid and doesn’t set it will still work as would have if it had set. Oh and one more thing you may want to wear dishwashing gloves while you make it, it can be messy and you will end up washing your hands until they feel like sandpaper if you don’t. I think the detergent smells fine as is, when it comes out of the dryer you don’t smell anything but if you want to add a pretty scent to your laundry just add a few tablespoons of your favorite scented essential oil. If you want to use fabric softener instead of buying something like Downy you can use white vinegar instead. I don’t use much just because I don’t like the smell of vinegar on my clothes but you can also add essential oils to the vinegar you use. I think that’s all I have for you tonight. Good luck to all of you on your laundry adventure.