Laundry Detergent

This is another catch-up post. I made an original batch of laundry detergent the same night I made my homemade dishwasher detergent. The first batch turned out to be unusable crap. After a day of sitting in my repurposed milk jug, it completely solidified. The blog I found this on warned that might happen and advised to cut down the amount of bar soup to use. Which is what I did and I am so glad I gave this a second chance.

The original recipe makes 2 gallons of detergent. I cut it down to make just one since I wasn't sure how it would turn out. Plus my largest pot is not deep enough to hold two gallons.

• 1/4 bar of soap (any kind that you would wash your body with)
• 1/2 cup Borax
• 1/2 cup washing soda
• 1 gallon water

Grate the soap using a cheese grater. Cook soap and half a gallon of the water over medium heat, until the soap shreds dissolve. Add the borax and washing soda then bring to a boil. Add half a gallon of cold water. Stir well. Using a funnel, pour your detergent into a one gallon milk jug.

Each load of laundry will use 1/2 cup of detergent. I bought measuring cups and left the half cup one down at my washer. At first I was disappointed by this second batch of detergent because of the texture. The first few loads seemed to have a lumpiness to them. Every time I load my washer, I shake well before poaring. Now it is flowing nice and smooth. Also, this detergent does not create a lot of suds, but that is ok. Suds do not necessarily equal clean. This gallon has lasted me over a month so far and still is not finished.

I will definitely stick to homemade laundry detergent from now on. By making my own detergent, I save some money and help lower my carbon footprint. Every bottle of store bought detergent I use saves the consumption of a plastic bottle that may end up in a landfill.