Homemade Laundry Detergent

A few months ago I came across a pin for "Homemade Laundry Detergent" on Pinterest. I thought about doing it so I pinned it and then like many other pins, I forgot about it..... until a few days ago.  We were running low on laundry detergent and I had told my husband about the pin I seen and how I wanted to try it.

He laughed.

Well, that's all I needed to get the fire lit under my butt! I was now determined. A strange coincidence was that I was looking on Facebook and my sister had a post of how she just made homemade laundry detergent! This was just meant to be.

The very next day, after dropping my son off at school, I made a trip to Target. I found everything but Zote soap and Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda. I sent a text to my sister asking where she found her stuff. Walmart. Ugh! She said she found everything but Borax so, I bought that from Target and traveled over to Walmart and picked up everything left on my list.

This is what you need:

1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax- Found in the detergent aisle

1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda- Found in the detergent aisle

1 (3 lb) Container of OxyClean- Found in the detergent aisle. (This is optional but was highly recommended)

2 (14.1 oz) Bars of Zote Soap- Found in the detergent aisle (I chose to do pink for the scent but the white would be just fine. You can also use Fels Naptha)

1 (4 lb) Box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda- Found in the cooking aisle (You could also get two 2 lb box, I couldn’t find the larger 4lb box when we went)

1-2 (55 oz) Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener- Found in the detergent aisle (This is 100% optional)

 

The hardest and most time consuming part of this recipe is grating the Zote Soap. If you're lucky enough to have a food proccessor... USE IT! Otherwise, like me, you will have to grate it by hand. Use the fine side (the side you would use to grate garlic or ginger).

 

Pretty huh? It smells really good and made me even more excited I was doing this. After I was done with that, I went on a search for a large bucket. I knew my husband had one somewhere in the garage. I moved a few boxes and tools and VOILA! I found it!

 

The instructions say to pour all ingredients in a layering matter. So I did. Mix it along the way cause once everything is in, it's hard to get the stuff on the bottom. Perhaps if I had a top, I could have rolled the bucket around to mix everything together but, I didn't. I used a large serving spoon to mix. 

 

As you can see, this makes A LOT.  Now for the best part…you only need 1-2 Tablespoons per load depending on the size. Yup, that's right! 1-2 Tablespoons per load. Another good thing is that if you decided to use the Purex Crystals in your batch, you can scoop the detergent right into your bottle and use the cap as your measuring spoon. There are 3 lines on the side of the cap and the middle one is approximately 2 Tablespoons. The only thing I don't like about this idea is that the Zote Soap shavings kind of get in the way of the spout when pouring. I think I will plan on buying one of those really big glass jars to put everything in (also seen on Pinterest).

That's it! You're finished. It smells WONDERFUL. I put the remaining detergent in my laundry room which is right next to my garage entrance. Every time I walk in from the garage, I take a deep breath and smile. Mission accomplished.

Here is the link to the original directions that I followed:
http://www.howdoesshe.com/cheaper-and-better-diy-laundry-detergent/