My Homemade Laundry Detergent Project
Let me start out by saying a HUGE thank you to Jamie at Being Creative. Within hours of being introduced to http://www.pinterest.com/ I stumbled upon this recipe and felt a HUGE need to give it a try. I am very OCD with washing clothes. My boys and I both have dry skin and skin allergies so before I can even remember I have had an OCD with not wearing clothes more than 1 time. That includes pjs, jeans, etc!! So if I can find a way to save money in this area I'm all about it.
This recipe is CHEAP and very effective. I'll include the recipe I used but you can also reference Jamie's blog for her recipe. I only made two slight adjustments and I'll note them below. I am including a few more pictures for you. This project took me a total of 20 minutes to make.
All of my ingredients cost me $17.88. If this last as long as Jamie says this is a HUGE savings for me. I spend about $10 per month on detergent. Jamie says this will last 6-9 months with doing 5-6 loads of laundry a week. She states you only need 1 tablespoon, but I used 2. I have a front loading machine and I tend to jam pack it full. So it might last me only half the time but even if so its still a savings for me.
So lets get started!!!!!!!
First, the recipe:
1 4lb 12oz box of Borax
1 4lb box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Washing Soda
3 bars of Fels-Naptha Soap (I also used a bar of the lavendar bar soap)
1 container of 3 lb Oxi Clean, I purchased the stain fighting kind
Jamie's receipe suggest 3.5lb oxi clean and she also said it was optional. I felt this was a must for me due to having two boys and I'm a huge oxi clean fan.
Mixing it is easy, I would suggest having a very large bucket to mix it in. The powder does "kick up" so pour it slow and close to the bottom. I would also suggest doing it outside if possible.
1 4lb 12oz box of Borax
1 4lb box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Washing Soda
3 bars of Fels-Naptha Soap (I also used a bar of the lavendar bar soap)
1 container of 3 lb Oxi Clean, I purchased the stain fighting kind
Jamie's receipe suggest 3.5lb oxi clean and she also said it was optional. I felt this was a must for me due to having two boys and I'm a huge oxi clean fan.
Mixing it is easy, I would suggest having a very large bucket to mix it in. The powder does "kick up" so pour it slow and close to the bottom. I would also suggest doing it outside if possible.
These are some of my ingredients. I forgot to take a picture before I got started of all of them. The soap comes in a bar I just cut it for easy shredding.
As you can see I started to shred the soap with a hand pealer but thought that would take me forever So I pulled out my Ninja food processor. It grated it down really fine which I prefer. The Fels-Naptha actually has a very nice smell.
I wanted a little bit of a lavender scent in my mixture so I added this small bar from a local soap shop.
Bar soap all grated!
I realized real quick that I was going to need a large bucket to mix everything in.
My little helper, he liked using the Ninja to shred the soap.
Here is my finished project. A nice little scoop came in my container of oxiclean, bonus!!
My next project is going to be to cut vinyl letters with my Cricut to label my container. ;-) I will also be trying the dish washer soap she has on her blog. I already did 3 loads of laundry and am VERY happy with it. I do still use fabric softener which I would encourage if you like a little more softness to your clothes. I use Downy which is only $3.99 for the original at most stores and last 1-2 months.
NOTE: For front loading machines its suggested to put the detergent in the barrel however I used it both ways and it seems to be fine.
