Making Powdered Homemade Laundry Detergent

Here are a few things I learned as I made the detergent:

1.      It takes hardly any time at all.

       2.      Start with a small batch.
       3.      My food processor is going to be amazingly clean

How this all got started…I ran out of liquid clothes washing detergent for my ginormous front load machines.  And I do a tremendous amount of laundry with 3 girls and a husband who believes in extreme dirtiness.

I figured it couldn’t be too hard to make my own and it has to be cheaper.  I spend about $15 a month on detergent alone, plus $3 on spray and wash and about $6 on the big bucket of oxyclean.  That is a whopping $24 a month on laundry.  I consulted with the Web’s and Facebook’s most knowledgeable on homemade laundry detergent.  I also perused pinterest.

I concluded that the liquid would be too much work for a very tired mama.  Two consultants recommended the powdered detergent.  I figured to make a small batch for a test run.

I had previously purchased the ingredients…one box of washing soda, one box of borax and one bar of Fels Naptha.  It took me longer to get out the food processor and put it together than to shred the bar of soap.  I selected an old ready to be trashed Rubbermaid container to store this batch in, mainly due to being lightweight.  These days, ease of use far outweighs price.  But it is awesome to have both!!

 

First Step…shred that bar of soap.  Again, I used my old food processor because my wrist couldn’t handle using my old box grater.

 

Add one cup of borax (per Aunt Gigi don’t inhale at this point), then add one cup of washing soda.

 

Look at those lovely layers.

Last give that container a shake. 

 

So far, I’m on my 3^rd load of laundry.  I have been using two tablespoons and putting it directly into the machine along with the clothes.  They smell great and look clean!!  I’ll update as we use this and let you know how it handles the diesel grease and grime from Scott.