Homemade Laundry Detergent

One of the things I do that I'm most proud of in this house is make our laundry detergent.  I've been doing it for a couple of years now and now that I've saved my family a BOAT-LOAD of money.  I make a five gallon bucket of it every 4-6 weeks.  It only costs about $1.00 to make and let me tell you: it.does.work.
Jason, my husband, throws garbage for a living and even though he likes to tell me that throwing garbage isn't THAT dirty of a job it sure is dirtier than a lot of them. It gets his clothes fresh and clean.


I got the recipe HERE.
4  Cups - hot tap water
1  Bar of Soap.  I've used Ivory, johnson & johnson Buddy bars and fels-naptha.  I usually get whatever I can find a good deal on.  Usually Ivory.
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super WASHING Soda (Note that I did not say BAKING soda.  Washing soda is mandatory and is in a yellow box.
½ Cup Borax
- cut up into small pieces (or grate) your bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.  This takes the longest time.  But it is necessary to stand there and keep stirring or it will bubble over.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. (This is the fun part.  My bucket is too tall to be filled directly from my faucet so I get to stand at the sink with my super slow sprayer and fill with that.)  Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.  When you open it the next morning it will look like a bucket of something you made in science class as a kid.  Stir through the gel.  It will continue to separate and gel every time it is left.  This is normal and this is okay.  It will not affect the quality of the product.  Just make sure to stir every time you open the bucket.
- Use a pitcher to poor detergent into empty store bought laundry detergent containers. Shake before each use. (Like mentioned above, it will continue to gel)
-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.  I use liquid detergent and/or dryer sheets so I usually allow those to be my scented item to make my laundry smell great!
The duggars claim this will make 10 gallons and that you can add half a laundry detergent jug full of water and half full of your detergent mix, but I don't dilute it any further than it already is.
-I use a top load washing machine and fill two cap fulls of detergent and add it to the beginning of a cycle.
HAPPY LAUNDERING!