How to make your own laundry detergent

I mentioned in my little ditty entry that I make my own laundry detergent, and someone asked for the recipe. Happy to oblige! I actually got this recipe from a friend whose family lives (and works) a farm. They use this detergent for their clothes and were very happy with it. That was enough of a testimonial for me to give it a try!

What you need is:

Fels Naptha Soap
Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
Borax

Just to clarify, yes, that is the right spelling for the Fels Naptha, and the Arm & Hammer is NOT baking soda. Washing soda is different.

You can sometimes find these items in an obscure spot in the laundry detergent aisle, usually on or near the top shelf. The Fels Naptha can be quite hard to find. Fortunately, I have a store near me that sells it, and whenever I go there I buy several bars of it at once even thought it lasts me a very long time. I have a friend who found is someplace on the internet, but it was a higher price than what I pay for it. (I generally pay about $1.30 or so per bar)

OK. To make the detergent:

Get out your cheese grater and grate one third of the bar of the Fels Naptha Soap into a soup pan. Add some water (approx. 2-4 cups--it doesn't really matter), heat on med. high and stir it until the soap is dissolved.

Then add a half cup of EACH the Super Washing Soda and the Borax. Keep heating and stirring until dissolved. Then turn the heat down to med. and stir intermittently for several minutes until it is thickened somewhat. It should get a consistency like honey, although obviously it partially depends on how much water you added to it!

After that you can turn off the heat. You need two gallon jugs or the equivalent of that capacity in whatever combination containers you want to store your detergent in. I just reuse 2 water jugs.

I pour half of the mixture into each jug (I just eyeball it to get it even) and then add hot water to each one (Slowly, since it can get a lot of bubbles) and fill each to the top. Voila! Detergent! The original instructions I have say to wait until the next day before using it, but I have no idea why.

For top-loading washers, use a half cup of this detergent. For front loaders, use a quarter cup.

I also use this detergent to pretreat spots and it does a very good job.

The one complaint my husband has about this detergent is that it has so scent. (I actually dislike purfumed detergents, so to me it is great) All you have to do to create a scent is to use some essential oil. We like using peppermint oil (I put in probably 15-25 drops per gallon. Just sniff to your liking) but you could also use lavender or any other scent that you like. It usually works better to add the oil when the detergent is at least partially cooled, although it isn't mandatory.

A gallon of this detergent lasts a nice long time, and it's super cheap. I don't mind making it since it's so easy. Usually one of my children offers to do the grating, so it's kind of a no-brainer after that point. I just make it while I'm cleaning the kitchen or something. No big deal.

Let me know if you try it!