I Made My Own Laundry Detergent!

I was excited to find a blog post on how to make your own laundry detergent for under $13.00 bucks!  Laundry detergent is so expensive and you really don't get a whole lot for your money so when I saw how to make your own, I was sold at first sight!!!  Plus, here is the pretty popcorn tin I decorated just for this wonderful soap.

I just love the smell of the detergent when you open the lid it just smells clean.

Here are the ingredients you will need and you can find them in the laundry soap section of the grocery store. 

4 lbs. Borax

4 lbs. Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

4 lbs. Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

3 bars Fels Naptha Bar Soap - each bar is 5 1/2 oz.

Find a container to store your soap in and add all three boxes. This will make 16 lbs so make sure it is big enough and has a tight seal.

Then take the bars of soap and shred them before adding it to the soap mixture.

Here I used a cheese shredder that I had and it worked great.

When its done it looks like a bowl of shredded cheese but smells heavenly.

Add it to the other dry ingredients (sounds like something to bake doesn't it).

Give it a good mix.

And wa-la your own laundry soap!

Each load only takes 1-2 tablespoons (hard to believe) and I had this pretty china cup that holds about 4 tablespoons so I know to only use half for a super size load.  Isn't it cute just sitting in the soap?

This is how much I use for a load, not much.

I have the tin sitting on the dryer with my vintage iron I bought years ago and doesn't the paint on the iron just match the tin?  I didn't plan this but I love it!  I have used the laundry soap a few times and love the smell of the clothes when you take them out of the washer, so clean smelling.  This makes about 150 loads of soap how amazing!!!  I will start to buy some ingredients a little at a time so when I run out I have everything I need to make another batch. I will not go back to buying premixed again!! 
I found this at the   The Beehive Cottage  so please go there to someone who has been using it for awhile and talks about front loader machines.  I will do a post when I have to make another batch just to see how long it took me to use it.  I hope you are excited to try your hand at it too, HAPPY WASHING!!!

xo

barb