Homemade Laundry Detergent

I've been making my own laundry detergent for a couple of months now; it’s so easy and cheap that I can't believe I didn't start sooner! I did a lot of research to figure out what recipe I wanted to use and there are so many different recipes and variations out there that I felt really overwhelmed. All I knew was I wanted to make it as natural as possible. I’m tired of hearing of toxins and chemicals that we are putting into or onto our bodies. I liked the recipe at DIY Natural so I gave it a try.

Ingredients:

1 cup Borax

1 cup Washing Soda

1 grated bar of Ivory (or any other natural soap)

Things you need:

1 cheese grater, blender, or food processor

1 container to store detergent in
1 large bowl

All of these items can be found at a local grocery store. I found all of mine at Meijer but I've seen them at Walmart too!

I start with the bar of soap; I prefer Fels-Naptha but its so much harder to find in stores around me. If I dont have any Fels-Naptha on hand, I like Ivory because it’s free of dyes and heavy perfumes and cheap. Really cheap. To grate it, you can use a cheese grater (that’s what I do) or just stick in a blender or food processor. The smaller the grated pieces, the easier they'll dissolve in the washer (although, I haven't had a problem with the cheese grater pieces).

Next, you mix the grated soap, washing soda, and borax all together (make sure it’s mixed really well!) and put it in a tightly-sealed container. I use an old Clorox wipe plastic container and its perfect.

You only need 1 or 2 tablespoons per load, how awesome is that?! Also, because it’s powder and not liquid, the shelf-life is really long.

Many thanks to Joy at Simply Bloom for the free laundry label printable that can be found here.   

I hope you try it and let me know what you think!