Homemade Laundry Soap

Homemade Laundry Soap

Now that #1's basketball and #2's baseball is over, I am looking forward to having some "extra" (if there is such a thing ... heehee) time to get back to blogging! 

My mind-set still continues to be simplify the ingredients and make what I can from "scratch" for less than what I could buy it at the store.

4 batches worth of homemade laundry detergent

I've tried a couple different recipes over the years for laundry detergent, powdered and liquid, but this is the one I've settled on. It's easy and cheap (like and love!). The ingredients pictured below cost about $12 and there is Borax and washing soda left for 2 more batches. I am sure this one is a very popular on Pinterest, but I borrowed my recipe from a teacher friend who has five children so I knew it had to do its job well! In addition, she informed me that she started only using this in her older machine but has now been using this in her high-efficiency wash machine for years!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

1 cup Borax

1  cup washing soda

1 bar of Fels-Naptha, shredded and/or chopped

Shred  (I used my Kitchenaid shredder attachment) or chop bar of Fels-Naptha. Combine the Fels-Naptha and remaining ingredients in food processor and chop until well blended. Use 2 tablespoons per large load for your top loader or front loader. 

I use this on everything except the Mister's socks due to sensitive skin and my Norwex cloths. I have always had to use free-everything laundry detergent on his socks and I haven't taken the chance to see if this would be okay for his feet. If I had to guess this version of homemade laundry detergent may not be the best if you have sensitive skin (which would make for a great post). However, Norwex recommends using their laundry soap for their products, so since I absolutely love my Norwex cloths and taking good care of the Mister I will continue to sparingly use :) their laundry detergent for these items. 

Cost comparison: I am still working out the cost per load, but initially the three and a half jars pictured above cost less than $7 and if this lasts me as long as a $14-$25 for 100+ loads of store bought detergent does then I'd say it's a win!

Updated 10/31/16 - I now use this on EVERYTHING including the Mr's socks. :)