Homemade Laundry Detergent

I finally got around to making my own laundry detergent after my stockpile of laundry detergents from couponing ran out. My co-worker, Monica Bear, first told me about making laundry detergent many months ago and the cost savings that it had. After my sister-in-law, Heidi, started making it, she told me how easy it was to make, and I became even more intrigued.

I only needed to buy 3 ingredients: Fels-naptha soap, Borax and Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda. I also purchased a 5 gallon bucket as well as a cool little mixer that connects to my drill.

I probably spent approximately $15 to get started. Everything but the Fels-naptha soap will last me for over 10 gallons of laundry detergent!!!

The hardest part for me was dissolving the Fels-naptha soap over medium-heat on the stove. I don't know if I just wasn't patient enough, but I had it on the stove for quite a while and it still had small chunks of soap in it when I mixed it. I don't think it will hurt the end product, and it's something to work on next time.

My favorite part was using my drill and mixer to stir. So easy, and worth the purchase!

Then I had to cover it and let it sit over night.

After it sat over night, it turned into a gel-like substance. I stirred it and poured it into an old laundry detergent container and milk jugs - filling each container/jug with 1/2 of the detergent and 1/2 water.

The fruits of my labor - a tad shy of 5 gallons of laundry detergent.

I used the recipe off of the the Duggar's website to make my laundry detergent. I have a front loader that needs a detergent with low suds (this is basically no suds), and this worked great in my washing machine. Here is the link if you are interested in making it:

http://duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/homemade_liquid_laundry_soap_front_or_top_load_machine_best_value

In the future, I will add scent to the detergent, but I wanted to make sure I could successfully make it before buying any scented oils. I definitely recommend scented oils. Although my laundry is clean, it lacks that familiar, fresh scent that I am used to.

SUCCESS!!!!