I discovered a recipe for homemade laundry detergent through Michele at Frugal Granola. It's been a few months now that I've been making it ~ it's so easy, and extremely economical. So I thought I'd share with you just how simple it is.
The recipe requires three ingredients: Borax, washing soda (found in the laundry detergent area of most stores), and a bar of soap. I use Dr. Bronner's Organic Magic Soap. I've tried using Peppermint, and recently I used Lavender. They're both nice, but I'm especially partial to Lavender!
I'll let you click on the link above for the amounts, but I double of the recipe, resulting in detergent for 36 loads! What an amazing deal.
I use my food processor to grate the soap:
I use my food processor to grate the soap:
Then I pour the grated soap, as well as the other ingredients, into a big bowl to mix it all up. All that remains is to transfer the detergent to storage containers. I use two large, clean yogurt tubs. To use, I scoop 1 Tablespoon in to the washing machine, and we're ready to roll!*
*Michele did note that she hadn't used this with cloth diapers, and neither have I. I have no idea whether it would cause build-up or not. So, that's the disclaimer for all you diaper washers. I'll let you know the verdict when it's in!
7 comments:
Our water is so hard, I don't know how well this would work, but I would love to try this recipe sometime!
Thanks so much! I'm a big fan of baking soda and Borax, so this should be great.
Hey Molly, I just wanted to say that it's WASHING soda (though the stuff I have is made by Arm & Hammer),not baking soda. But a box of that and Borax go a long way! I do buy a new bar of soap every time though.
Thank you, Mindy. I've been considering this option, but doing the research to get started has been a sticking point for me. How much would you say it costs to make a 36 load batch?
Oh gosh, I'm not sure. I don't remember how much the Borax & Washing Soda were, to tell you the truth. It's been several months since I bought them. The soap I use is about $4.80 per bar, but of course you could use whatever you wanted (Ivory, Dove...).
Here is a quote from the site where the recipe is posted (again, I double the recipe): "Cost – cheap, 10¢ per load! Borax $2.95 for 25 batches, Washing Soda $1.79 for 12 batches, and Dr. Bronner’s soap $2.91 for 2 batches. The 5 pound box of Biokleen says that it washes 50 loads (although I am skeptical), at $10.19 for the box that is 20¢ per load. Homemade is at least half the cost."
I notice that I paid a lot more for Dr. Bronner's soap than she did. Hmm...
Hope this helps!
I may try this when I run out of what I am using now. Although, I do like using the same thing for diapers and clothes.
Also, last time I was buying vitamins from vitacost.com, I noticed the Dr Bronners was fairly inexpensive. Maybe less than $3.00?
Erin - maybe I need to start buying it online. At the store I just buy single bars (that's how it's sold where I usually buy it) and I'm sure it's more expensive that way.
I'll let you know if I decide to try diapers with it!
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