Making Your Own Laundry Detergent!

I've decided to give making my own laundry detergent a try.

You'll Need:
1 bar of Fels-Naptha (97 cents at Walmart- find it in the laundry detergent aisle) or a cheap bar of soap.
1/2 cup of Borax
1 cup of Washing Powder- NOT baking powder or baking soda, which they also house with the laundry detergent.

All of these items can be easily found at Walmart and for much cheaper prices than you will see somewhere like Amazon.com.  I paid less than $5 for all three ingredients.


You will also need a 5 gallon bucket, a grater and a small pot.  I had to buy all of these things, but no worries, I'll recoup the money spent ultimately.

First grate your bar of Fels-Naptha and add it to your pot with water. Stir the soap continuously over medium-low heat until the soap is melted and dissolves.  This can take a while, but believe me when I say you don't want this stuff boiling over.  Keep track of it.

Fill your 5 gallon bucket half full of hot water. Add your melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all the powder is dissolved. Fill the bucket to the top with more hot water, then stir the mixture and cover it.  Let it sit overnight to thicken up some.

Stir again in the morning/afternoon/whenever and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with the soap/water mixture and then fill rest of way with water. Shake it up well before you use it each time, or it will get gunky and gel-like.

See how weird it is when you first open the container the next morning? LOL

For Top Load Washing Machines, use 5/8 cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
For Front Load Machines, use 1/4 cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

-Kristen