How-to: laundry detergent

I hate buying laundry detergent. I feel like it is a waste of money and I wash so many clothes a bottle of detergent doesn’t last very long for the price it cost. I went online to find out how to make my own and I found so many different “recipes” I couldn’t hardly wait to start. I found one “recipe” I liked and edited it to my liking. I went to my local Wal-Mart and was able to find everything I needed for such a super cheap price.

This makes 1/2 gallon. I doubled it and made 1 gallon due the fact the jar I bought was a 1 gallon jar. Glass jar was $4.97 and the coffee scoop was $1.64 (1 tablespoon).

What you need:

  • 2 cups of 20 Mule team Borax ($3.38 – 4lb box)
  • 2 cups of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda ($3.24 – 3lb box)
  • 1 cup of baking soda ($0.50 – 14oz box)
  • 1 bar of Fels-Naptha Soap ($0.97 – per bar)
  • 1 cup of Oxi-Clean ($3.86 – 1.3lb tub)
  • 1 cup of Purex Crystals ($4.85 – 28ox bottle)

Tools:

  • 1 large bowl
  • Cheese grater
  • Measuring cups

How-to:

  1. Grate your bar of soap. I used the fine side of the grater. It seems to mix better into the powder.
  2. Mix all powder ingredients together.
  3. Add grated soap into powder ingredients.
  4. Mix all together.
  5. Done!

Side note: I have a front loading washer and I add it right in the drum. I use two scoops. It seems to make my clothes smell amazing and gets them just as clean or more as store bought. If you are wondering about the smell it smells like lavender and just clean. . .due to the Purex is lavender scented.

Cost of just ingredients total: $16.90 And I still have a lot of extra borax and washing soda for my next use. Which I found pretty awesome!