Homemade Laundry Detergent

No one has told me I smell yet...

Though, it is possible they are just being nice.  I, however, honestly do not believe that I smell.  In fact, now that I use homemade laundry detergent, I actually think my clothes are even fresher than before.

Even the cheapest laundry detergent can get expensive, especially when you have a full house and do many loads of laundry per week.  Because of this, I decided to do what I do best: make my own.  There are several different homemade detergent recipes out there but I have found the one below to be the easiest and most effective.  It is a powder so be sure to add it to the water before putting the clothes in the washing machine.  This recipe does work with front loader and high efficiency washing machines, you just need to use a little less detergent.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

• 1 c. washing soda
• 1/2 c. baking soda
• 1/2 c. Borax
• 1 bar dye-free soap (I use Ivory)

Using a cheese grater, shave the bar of soap to tiny pieces.  Add washing soda, baking soda, and Borax and stir thoroughly until mixture is fairly fine.  Store in air tight container.  Use 1 tablespoon per large load.

Washing soda can be a little tricky to find in some areas.  It is usually in the laundry aisle (probably on the bottom shelf).  If you cannot find it, you can buy it online or omit it all together and increase the baking soda to 1-1/2 cups.  I have resorted to this method before and it still seems to work well, though your clothes may not come out as soft.

Note:  This is not recommended for cloth diapers.  The Borax is abrasive so it may bother sensitive skin and the washing soda may break down the elasticity of many brands of cloth diapers.  Stay tuned for my tips on laundering cloth diapers.