Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

This was my first attempt at making laundry detergent. It was surprisingly easy!

Ingredients:
4 c hot water
1 bar Fels-Naptha soap
1 c Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1/2 c Borax

You'll also need:
Grater
5 gallon bucket with a lid (can be purchased at any home improvement store. I used an empty kitty litter pail)
Long-handled stirring utensil- not wooden (I used grill tongs)
Empty plastic laundry detergent container

Yield: 10 gallons laundry detergent

1. Grate bar soap. This took less than 5 minutes.
    Helpful hint: the smaller you grate the soap, the faster it melts.

2. Add soap to hot water, stir constantly over medium-low heat until the soap is completely dissolved, remove from heat. This took about 15 minutes. Next time I will grate the soap into smaller pieces.

3. Fill 5-gallon bucket with hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda, and borax. Stir until powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot tap water and stir.



4. Cover and let sit overnight.

5. The detergent will become gel over night. Stir vigorously until gel is broken up enough to pour the liquid. Fill laundry soap container half full with detergent. Fill the rest of the way with tap water. Shake before each use. Store bucket of remaining detergent in a cool place.

Use 5/8 c of detergent per load for a top-load washer. (makes approx. 180 loads)
Use 1/4 c of detergent per load for a front-load washer. (makes approx. 640 loads)


In my family of 5, we have a lot of laundry! This batch of detergent cost less than $3.00 to make and will last my family about 3 months. That's only $1.00 per month for laundry detergent! Now that's stretching a buck!!