My husband, Casey, and I have been married for 2 ½ years and we are still trying to figure out what is an appropriate budget. We are constantly altering what we should or should not spend our money on and figuring out how we can save money. One of my biggest ‘hard pills to swallow’ is buying household cleaners and toiletries. Why do they have to be so expensive?! It is very hard walking into Costco and paying 20 plus dollars for detergent! But, I also don’t want to walk around with my clothes all stinky, so I guess I have to submit to the purchase. Until now…
Casey and I traveled back to the Midwest to visit family in the beginning of July. As we were visiting Casey’s brother and his family, the time came when we had to do laundry. Julie (sister in law) said to me, before heading downstairs to commence the process, that the detergent was in a 5 gallon bucket next to the washer and to only use ½ a cup in each load. As I got down to the washer and put the detergent in, I was a little skeptical as to how this homemade detergent was going to work. But, I kept my mind open and was very grateful to be doing laundry!
When everything was said and done and as I was folding our clothes, I was pleasantly surprised at how clean everything turned out! Ok, I thought, there is something to this. So I asked for Julie’s recipe for the detergent and when Casey and I returned home, I promptly went on the quest to find all of the ingredients (which, after visiting 8 stores, all of the ingredients are at Fred Meyer).
I am happy to report that, for us, this 5 gallon bucket full of detergent will last us approximately just under a year! When I crunched the number, I was shocked! We spent about 8 dollars for all of the ingredients and it took us about 15 minutes to put together the mixture. 8 dollars! For a year! That, 100%, beats 20 plus dollars every 3 months or so.
I’m not quite sure where Julie got this recipe but I will be using this for a very long time! I hope you enjoy it and I encourage you to try it. And just think of all the ways you will be saving money!
Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap Recipe
1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap
4 c. hot tap water
1 c. washing soda
1/2 c. Borax
Grate the bar of soap with a food grater, and add to a saucepan with the hot tap water. Over medium heat, stir until soap is completely dissolved and melted. Fill a 5 gallon bucket (available at Home Depot with lids) 1/2 full with hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda, and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to the top with hot tap water. Stir well, cover, and let it sit overnight to thicken.
This Laundry soap is basically like a concentrate that you would buy at the store. A little goes a long way! Mix well before each use. (it thickens and gels when it has been sitting) Add 1/4 c. to 1/3 c. per load depending on dirtiness and size of load. I keep a measuring cup on top of the washing machine so I always have it there when I need it! For a 5-gallon bucketful, this recipe costs approximately $2.00 to make, and it washes approximately 180 loads of laundry. (And we still had $6.00 of ingredients left over!)
Hints:
- Fells Naptha soap, Borax, and Washing Soda are found in the laundry aisle of most grocery stores.
- This is a great recipe for people with sensitive skin. It contains no dyes or fragrances.
- It works great when washing cloth diapers! Just add 2 tbsp. extra of Borax to the laundry load, or pre-treat the stains by dissolving 1/2 of Borax in warm water, and soaking the item that is stained. Works great on baby spit-up, formula stains, newborn diaper messes, ketchup, grass stains, etc.
-posted by Miss Anna, who can only imagine what it would be like to be doing laundry for a family consisting of more than 2 members! We have enough to do as it is!
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