DIY Laundry Detergent

Today I am going to share a recipe for DIY Laundry Detergent from Busy At Home's - DIY Laundry Detergent.  This is the 2nd batch that I have made, and I love this stuff.  It is just as good as Tide, and works great in my HE washing machine.  This is a recipe that I highly recommend.  So here goes.

DIY Laundry Detergent

  
Ingredients:

1/4 bar Fels Naptha Soap
2 TBL Borax Powder
1/4 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (not baking soda)

Directions:

Cut your bar of Fels Naptha Soap into quarters, and save 3 of the quarters for future batches.  Grate 1/4 bar of the Fels Naptha.


Heat 1 cup of water in a pan on the stove and add the Fels Naptha soap.  Stir constantly until the soap dissolves.  I use a whisk.  It will get foamy on top, but you can use a large spoon or ladle to look at the water / soap mixture to see if it has totally dissolved.  Just try to get the mixture without the foam.  It took me about 10 to 15 minutes with the water lightly boiling.

Once the soap has dissolved turn off the heat and add the borax and washing soda, and whisk together well.  Make sure that there are no lumps.  It will be thick, but I found that it is easier to do it this way, then the to add it after after you add the additional water.  The recipe at Busy At Home tells you add them once you add the additional water, but I found that it was harder to get rid of the clumps that way.

Next put this mixture in a bucket and add 10 cups of water.  Whisk together well.  Then add another 10 cups of water.  Cover the bucket or put in a container with a lid and let sit overnight.

The next day stir well again.  It will have thickened up overnight.  Then pour this mixture into containers, and only fill containers half full.  Then fill the next half of the containers with water.  Shake well to mix detergent.  I have used different containers and they all seem to work well.  I have an old tide bottle that I use, but I have also used 1 gallon empty water jugs, and also large juice containers.  I save empty containers, because I never know what I am going to need them for.

My suggestion is to shake the bottles before each use, so that you do not get lumps.  Otherwise, use as you would any other laundry detergent.  I use about 1/4 cup or a little less per load. 

Makes approximately 2 1/2 gallons of laundry detergent.

I hope you like this recipe.  It is amazingly easy.  Let me know if you like this recipe.  I would love to hear from you.

Enjoy!!!
Debi

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