Kat Made Her Own DIY Laundry Detergent – How To

Over the weekend, I took on the task of making my own laundry soap. After multiple trips to Pinterest trying to decide on a recipe, whether to make liquid or powder, and after conferring with my really crafty friend, Jenny, I felt confident that I could do this.

I was so excited to try out my new laundry detergent! I don't think I have EVER been that excited about washing a load of laundry! I was incredibly surprised to see how dingy the water looked once the washer began to agitate. Ewww! I don't think my former detergent was doing as good of a job as I thought it was! I am really impressed with not only the performance of my DIY laundry detergent, but also with the total price!

A quick trip to Walmart, and I had all of the supplies that I needed. All of the ingredients are age old, tried & true, and natural! They are safe for the environment!

• One 4 lb box of Borax - $3.23
• One 4 lb box of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (I accidentally picked up Baking Soda, but it is working just fine) - $2.88
• 2 bars of Fels Naptha - $0.97 each. This has a very fresh & clean smell.

All of these ingredients cost me about $8.00, and I didn't even use the entire box of Borax or Baking Soda. This means that I have extra Borax & Baking Soda for other household cleaning! All of these items are found in the laundry detergent aisle at the store. I also picked up a $2.00 plastic container for storage, and a small metal coffee scoop for measuring. Once I got everything back home, I got to work. I used a small plastic bowl and my cheese grater to finely shred the 2 bars of Fels Naptha soap. I measured out 2 cups of the Borax and 2 cups of Baking Soda, and poured those into my plastic container. I then took half of my shredded soap, and added that to the mix. I put the lid on the container & shook - shook - shook! I measured out 2 more cups of the Borax and 2 more cups of Baking Soda, and added that to the mixture, along with the remainder of the shredded Fels Naptha. Here again, I sealed the container & shook - shook - shook! That's it!

You can also make liquid detergent if you prefer, using the same ingredients, but I wanted to go with simplicity so I stuck with powder detergent. It only takes 2 tablespoons of powder per load of laundry. If my calculations are accurate, I should have enough detergent for 200 or more loads of laundry, and all for under $8.00! Happy washing!