Homemade Laundry Detergent

Let's start with the cost. Remember that I bought enough Soda & Borax to last for a long time. When you read the recipe you will understand. (just ignore the erasers I got on the same trip)

Powdered Laundry Detergent (Top load machine)

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar

1 Cup Washing Soda

½ Cup Borax

-Grate soap or break into pieces and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients.

For light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons. Yields: 3 Cups detergent. (Approx. 40 loads)

Other recipes for detergents and things can be found at: http://www.duggarfamily.com/recipes.html

Not all stores carry WASHING SODA (not BAKING soda). This will be located with the laundry items, probably right next to the Borax. If your regular grocery doesn't have it, then make some phone calls to find out who does have it-save yourself a headache and the gas!

Most stores will carry the Fels-Naptha soap, or something like it, also in the laundry area. Smell the bar through the paper wrapping if you want to. To me it just smells of a basic "clean". If you don't like the smell, you won't like the smell of your clothes. You can also use ZOTE SOAP instead.

This is how the finished product looks. The yellowish is the Fels-Naptha. I still have to figure out how to get it more powdery than this. As you can see there are still some small chunks of yellow.

I put a ONE TABLESPOON measure into the old butter container I used so that everyone knows how much to use. I also wrote it in marker on the top!

Remember-This was a double batch.

Grating & getting the Fels-Naptha soap into a powdered form is the only work on this. The rest is just mixing. I used my food processor-grating the bar itself & then using the blade to get it as small as possible.

You will not need FABRIC SOFTENER with this. Today I washed a fleece blanket and when it came out of the dryer there was no static. I haven't used the softener sheets for a long time just to eliminate the cost. But if you decide you want to use it anyway, there are some recipes for fabric softener on the same page (http://www.duggarfamily.com/recipes.html).

If you do this, please share with me the results.