Quick, Cheap and Easy Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

If you are on a budget, and most of us are nowadays with the economy being as it is, i’m sure you’re looking for ways to save yourself some money. I had a friend suggest to me that I make my own laundry soap. At first I was a bit leery, but I decided to give it a shot. Turns out, it very easy to do, cheap and does the job. I will tell you to not expect it to work miracles. Like most regular detergents, this won’t always get bad stains out, so I suggest you use a pretreat stain remover such as Tide Stain Release packets, Oxy Clean or a spray such as Resolve or Shout.

There is only three things you need in order to make homemade detergent. Its low cost and can be found in most grocery stores. The three things that you will need are 20 Mule Team borax, Arm and Hammer washing soda and a bar of soap, such as Ivory, Fells Naptha or Zote. The borax and washing soda should be found in your laundry detergent aisle at your local grocery store. The total estimated cost for these items will be around $9 depending on the size of the product purchased.

This recipe should give you enough detergent to clean about 64 loads of laundry. Cost per load of laundry is about 1 cent a load. This is a low sudsing formula, excellent for high-efficiency washing machines.

Before you start, make sure you have a metal box cheese grater. You will use this to grate your bar of soap. Also you will need a measuring cup and a 2 ½ gallon bucket or container of some sort with a lid. If you like, you also can get a scented oil of your choice to add to your detergent for a pleasant smell.

To start, you want to fill your container with 1 gallon and 3 quarts of warm water. Next grate Ò½ of your bar of soap with the smallest shavings possible. Fill a sauce pan with 4 cups of warm water and bring to a boil. When your water comes to a boil, slowly stir in your soap shavings. There will be a soap foam, be sure it doesn’t boil over. Boil until mixture is dissolved.

Next you will add ½ a cup pf your Borax and Ò½ a cup of your Washing Soda to the boiled soap mixture. Stir until it completely dissolves and then remove it from heat. Slowly add your soap mixture to the bucket of water and stir well. If you decide to add a scented oil, you will want to add it now. Place enough oil to lightly scent your fabric, as much as a tablespoon should do the trick. Be careful as to not add too much as you don’t want the smell overpowering or leaving oil stains on your clothing. After you’ve completed your mixing, take your container and place it aside with the lid covering it 3/4 of the way. You will need to let sit and rest for about 15 to 24 hours to get the desired texture.

After the 15 to 24 hour period, your laundry detergent will be ready to use. It will have a egg white consistency, very watery and gel like. Each time you use it, be sure to give it a good stir. Use ½ a cup per load of soiled clothing. As I mentioned before earlier, for heavily soiled fabrics, use a pretreatment stain remover beforehand directly on the stain. You also may use slightly more detergent for heavily soiled clothing, with really warm to hot water to be sure the soap mixture fully rinses from the the clothing.

You’ll be amazed at the savings from making your own homemade detergent. Its very convenient and quick to make. You can also put it in a regular empty liquid detergent bottle, for easy access and no mess use. If you purchase the ingredients in bulk, you’ll be amazed by how many more homemade cleaners can be made out of it.


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