I am so glad I found this recipe. My whole family seems to have sensitive skin and I was buying a name brand detergent that is fragrance & dye free. That can get expensive, it's really sad that it costs more for a product that has less ingredients in it but I bought it anyways. Now I will no longer be spending that kind of money. The Fels-Naptha has a scent so I was a little weary of using it but I love the scent and it doesn't have any effect on our sensitive skin. So here is the recipe courtesy of
http://thefrugalgirls.com/2010/08/how-to-make-homemade-laundry-detergent.html
I have rewritten it so I could add my own notes.
Homemade
Laundry Detergent-Liquid (makes 2 gallons)
(Under $0.50
per gallon if I get ingredients from Walmart)
1/2 Cup: Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda {not Baking
Soda}
1/2 Cup: Borax
1/3 Bar of
Fels-Naptha Soap {you could also use Ivory soap, but if using Ivory… use the
whole bar}
·
Grate 1/3 bar of Fels-Naptha Soap over large pot
or saucepan…
·
Add 6 cups of Water.
·
Heat over
medium-high until soap dissolves and melts.
·
Add
Washing Soda & Borax, and stir until dissolved.
·
Remove
from heat and set aside.
*See notes following instructions: After doing the above
as directed, I mixed it differently bcuz I didn’t have a bucket
·
Pour 4 cups Hot Water into bucket, then add Soap
Mixture (makes 6 cups of soap mixture)
·
Stir,
then add 1 Gallon + 6 Cups of additional water.
Stir.
·
Transfer to a bucket with a lid, or pour into
empty laundry detergent containers.
·
Set
aside, and let it sit overnight, or up to 24 hours, to thicken and gel up.
·
Consistency
and color will vary depending on your soap & water ~ it may be lumpy and
watery… kind of like a watery gel, but it works great!
·
Stir or
shake before each use, as it will continue to gel.
*Notes:
I didn’t have a bucket so I made the soap mixture as directed in the pan, I'm splitting the recipe in half after the cooking stage, then I
used these instructions:
·
Pour 2 cups of hot water into a one gallon
container (I used 1 gallon Gatorade containers but 1 gallon milk jugs would work)
·
Add 3 cups of soap mixture
·
Then add 11 cups of water
·
This is one gallon. Do the same with the other 3
cups of soap mixture and that’s your 2nd gallon.
· Set aside, and let it sit overnight, or up to 24 hours, to thicken and gel up.
· Consistency and color will vary depending on your soap & water ~ it may be lumpy and watery… kind of like a watery gel, but it works great!
· Stir or shake before each use, as it will continue to gel.
*I use the measuring cap from my old laundry detergent bottle. I use the exact same amount of homemade detergent as I did the name brand.
Additional info:
I use roughly 1 gallon of laundry detergent a per month. I did the math and found I could make a year's worth (12 gallons) of homemade laundry detergent for the same price as one (1) store bought, name brand 66 load (3quarts 4oz - not even a full gallon) container of laundry detergent. That's just crazy!!!
