How to Make your own Laundry Detergent

A few weeks back my husband asked me to pick up the products to make our own laundry detergent. I, in my normal element, was opposed to the idea. Why would I want to create more work to do work? He was so on board that he said that he would make it himself if I would just pick up the ingredients. Credit to where credit is due. . . .his sister started making her own laundry detergent and wrote about it on her awesome and creative blog. I picked up a fels-naptha bar, washing soda and borax to make the powder. He used a cheese grater (one from Pampered Chef) to grate the fels-naptha bar and it took about 10 minutes. The reason to make your own laundry detergent:

1) it is way cheaper than normal laundry detergent (about 5.7 cents/load) compared to I think around 10 - 30 cents
2) takes up less space than the regular
3) better for the environment
4) is a creative outlet for those looking for something odd to do in their spare time!

My issues that have been resolved about making my own laundry detergent.

1) it might break out our skin
2) it would be too harsh on our clothes or would not clean them at all
3) it would be a pain in the behind to make
4) it would smell bad

None of these things have happened. We have been using this for about three weeks which equates to about 3 jillion loads of clothes around here. It really works for us! Check out more grand ideas on the following subjects and sites

1) Easy Dishwashing
2) Movies Galore
3) Kid's Visual Schedule

and then go back to visit rocksinmydryer for more good, fun blogging business! By the way, if you look closely at the pic of my hubs. He is grating the ingredients into a "Bisquick" labeled jar. It now says "NOT Bisquick" so the kids will not decide to have a bite. Just remember, safety first! :)

8 comments:

Heather said...

Thanks for posting this ... I jumped over to your sis-in-law's blog and I am going to do this this week!

~Heather :)

ames said...

Sounds awesome! I too had the same concerns about homemade detergent, good to know that it doesn't cause those problems.

Memarie Lane said...

I've been wanting to try this, but the only ingredient I can find is Borax.

Kerry said...

Hey - thanks for the link to my Visual Schedule! Ok, I'm going to give your "recipe" a try. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi, Desiree! Thanks for the link :u) This laundry detergent is actually less harsh on your skin than the stuff you buy. I use it for baby Bridget's clothes and diapers and she's never reacted to it.

My grocery store doesn't reliably carry all the ingredients - you could try other grocery stores (my old grocery store always had them), Walmart or Target, or I checked Amazon, and they carry everything.

Way to go trying the detergent out! Happy sudsy mixing! :u)

Anonymous said...

Hello*!!

Just came across your blog on the Mom Blogs.-- so, forgive my intrusion. :)

Great blog.Very fun and interesting stuff. TY!

A~

Kathy in WA said...

Desiree - I'm behind in my blog surfing. Thanks for the link. I love the idea of including a few favorite WFMW blogs that you find along the way.

I need to do that next time. I usually wish I had HOURS to go through all the amazing tips/blogs. There are so many fantastic bloggers in the world. Hard to get things done in the midst of my bloggy reading. ha!

Duckabush Blog

PachucaSunrise said...

Could you add something to it to make it smell better? Like the scented detergents in stores?