Homemade Laundry Detergent
As promised, I made homemade laundry detergent!! I've created a really quick tutorial in case any of you might want to give it a try, though I seriously can't express how easy it is!!!
First up, the ingredients:
You'll need:
Borax powder ($3.99)
Washing Powder ($3.59)
Bar soap ($4.50, but a single bar was $1.29 if you prefer to do it that way)
Grater (I bought a new one so as not to mix food with soap. $2.00)
Everything I needed was at my local Kroger. The powders can be found in the laundry detergent aisle (clever!) and I got the grater in the kitchen section for 2 bucks! As for the soap, you can use a number of things, but I like the fresh, clean scent of Ivory. And Kroger had a pack of 15 bars on sale for $4.50!! I'd avoid weird, scented soaps. If you want to add smell, you can throw in a couple drops of essential oils.
Ok, let's get started!
Step One: Grate Your Soap
Step Two: Add One Cup of Borax
Give it a good stir!
Step Three: Add One Cup of Washing Powder
Stir everything together until it forms a true powder, essentially the consistency of, you guessed it, powder detergent!
It makes about 2.5 cups. Use 1 Tablespoon per load of laundry.
Would store perfectly in an old sour cream or ricotta container too!
If you can believe it, that's it! So, let's do a little cost analysis!
Total cost of ingredients is (including the grater, so subtract 2 bucks if you already have one) is right around 11 bucks. For some, that's less than you pay for one jug or box of store bought! And this is enough for 32 loads of laundry! Not to mention, it barely made a dent in the ingredients, which I'm guessing can make another 7-8 batches at least, but maybe more. I have no idea how many loads a jug does, but I assure you it's not 32. Times 7 or 8. :)
Happy 2012 Friends and Planet Earth!
First up, the ingredients:
You'll need:
Borax powder ($3.99)
Washing Powder ($3.59)
Bar soap ($4.50, but a single bar was $1.29 if you prefer to do it that way)
Grater (I bought a new one so as not to mix food with soap. $2.00)
Everything I needed was at my local Kroger. The powders can be found in the laundry detergent aisle (clever!) and I got the grater in the kitchen section for 2 bucks! As for the soap, you can use a number of things, but I like the fresh, clean scent of Ivory. And Kroger had a pack of 15 bars on sale for $4.50!! I'd avoid weird, scented soaps. If you want to add smell, you can throw in a couple drops of essential oils.
Ok, let's get started!
Step One: Grate Your Soap
Step Two: Add One Cup of Borax
Give it a good stir!
Step Three: Add One Cup of Washing Powder
Stir everything together until it forms a true powder, essentially the consistency of, you guessed it, powder detergent!
It makes about 2.5 cups. Use 1 Tablespoon per load of laundry.
Would store perfectly in an old sour cream or ricotta container too!
If you can believe it, that's it! So, let's do a little cost analysis!
Total cost of ingredients is (including the grater, so subtract 2 bucks if you already have one) is right around 11 bucks. For some, that's less than you pay for one jug or box of store bought! And this is enough for 32 loads of laundry! Not to mention, it barely made a dent in the ingredients, which I'm guessing can make another 7-8 batches at least, but maybe more. I have no idea how many loads a jug does, but I assure you it's not 32. Times 7 or 8. :)
Happy 2012 Friends and Planet Earth!