Homemade Laundry Soap, 'cause duh.

11:12 AM

I saw this recipe a good while ago from one of the, I don't know, three bloggers that I actually follow (Raising Colorado) because I get overwhelmed easily but that's besides the point. I knew I wanted to start making our own laundry detergent because it's cheaper and greener and better for life BUT we had a HEAPING stack of laundry detergent that we somehow happened upon over the months and Chris said we had to wait until we used it all before we made some so it didn't look like we were stockpiling laundry detergent for the apocalypse.

So alas..our stock has run dry. Against my better judgment and my will, I was sucked into the vortex of Wal-mart because it's a half mile and one stop light away from my house. I should have assumed going into it that I would have to travel to more than one store...but if your luck is better than mine and you can escape Wal-mart with your sanity in tact, you should be able to find all the ingredients there. I had to make an additional trip to Target to find Borax since hell-mart was out.

Here's what you need:
[ONE EACH]
4lb. 12 oz. box of Borax
4 lb. box Arm and Hammer Baking Soda
3 lb. box Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
3 lb. box Oxi Clean
1 bar of Zote Soap



(1) Pour all of the dry ingredients into a huge container/bucket/pot and stir really really well. I poured all of mine into a 2 gallon glass container that I planned to store the detergent in. I found that the stick end of a wooden spoon worked well to mix it all up...and I also used my hand.


(2) Grate your bar of Zote soap into the already mixed jar of goodness. (I used the smallest grate size on my hand held grater and it took me about 10 minutes to grate the whole bar.) I love the way this stuff smells but I can't pin-point what it reminds me of. Hotel laundry? College laundry rooms? I'll figure it out eventually.



(3) Mix the grated soap until it's well incorporated throughout the mixture and applaud your inner hippie.

BONUS: The Oxi Clean container comes with a laundry scoop marked in tablespoons. You only need ONE tablespoon per laundry load, and TWO if your laundry is extra dirty.

Raising Colorado says this mixture should last them (a family of four) at least six months. I'll let you know how long it lasts our family of two. We technically do more laundry than the average couple, I think, since I paint and Chris has to wash his grosshospitalgerm scrubs after every shift.


Total cost to make? 
$18.26
If it lasts us 6 months that's $3.04 per month for good quality detergent. 

You aarrrreee welcome.


You Might Also Like

4 comments

  1. hey! this is awesome! Question though... if I have a washer that only has a spot for liquid detergent, do I just put this straight into the laundry tub with the clothes?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey! So sorry! I dont get notified when I get comments! Yep, just put it right in with the clothes! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks! I will definitely have to try this out! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. And it smells good and looks awesome in your glass jar!! Going to try a load with the sample I got from Chris.
    :))

    ReplyDelete

Leave us some love! And don't forget your blog link so I can visit! :)

Popular Posts

Like us on Facebook

Flickr Images