{Laundry Detergent}

One money-saver our family has been doing is making our own laundry detergent! In our large family, we usually do about 3-4 loads of laundry a day. Needless to say, we go through detergent prettyyyy quick. Instead of paying around $8-9 for a jug of liquid detergent that lasts about 40 loads, we are now only putting out around $6 for supplies to make about 25-30 gallons of super concentrated detergent that has lasted us for months. 

My friend shared this particular recipe on her blog for moms who are using cloth diapers, as it is very gentle. Several of us have sensitive skin and the harsh fragrance, dye and sulfates found in commercial detergent  was very irritating. And expensive.  I doubled this recipe. My notes are in parentheses. 

Homemade Laundry Soap via Ponder the Path

1 bar soap such as Fels Naptha or Ivory

1/2 C washing soda

1/2 C borax

1 large bucket 
(I added 3-4 T. essential oil)

Grate soap bar in a pan on the stove top. Add 6 C water. Heat until soap melts and add other 2 ingredients. Remove from heat. Pour 4 C hot water into bucket. Add soap mixture and more water (I use about 24 cups) until desired depth is reached. Stir well. Let sit 24 hours to gel. (Took mine about 12 hours) Stir occasionally. 
(This makes the concentrate. Now you can add more water to the bucket (you'll need to divide between two buckets) or fill up containers that are easy to use and pour when doing laundry. We recycled about 10 or so milk jugs, filling each with about half water, half concentrate. Leave about 1/4 of the jug empty so you can give it a good 'shake' before pouring.)

Here's the goods: Borax ($2.49), Washing Soda ($2.89), Ivory 3-pack($.97)

I used an old pot that we don't cook out  of anymore. Or you could pick one up at Goodwill, etc.

Super concentrated mix. Should resemble slime :)

We use about 1/4 cup per load of laundry. The biggest thing to get used to is that fact that there are no 'suds'. This is the absence of surfactants. This does not mean the laundry is not getting clean!

Hope this is helpful to those wanting to save a little! Sure glad our family found a better way to save and clean :)