Wishy washy

A friend of mine told me last summer that she makes her own laundry detergent. Pete and I finally made a batch over the weekend, and I'm pretty sure it's going to last a year or so. In true Tiffany fashion, I documented the experience.

Step 1: Buy 4 materials: Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda, borax, Fels-Naptha Soap and a 5-gallon bucket. I picked up the first two items at the grocery store. Pete ordered the soap from Amazon, which was about $3 including shipping. I also got a bucket at Lowe's. It's gray and boring, but it gets the job done. I think altogether, everything came to about $20. I won't have to buy another bucket, and the washing soda and borax will last a LONG time.

Step 2: Grate the bar of soap and add to a pot of hot water. I don't think the pot we used has ever cooked soap before. And I doubt the cheese grater has ever grated soap, but at least I didn't have to wash it. ... Kidding.

Step 3: As you grate the soap, stir and stir and stir until it dissolves in the water and looks like so. 

Step 4: Fill the bucket halfway with water, then add the soap mixture, borax and washing soda. You stir some more, being careful not to leave any chunks of the ingredients. 

Step 5: Fill the rest of the bucket with water, stir some more, secure the lid and leave it overnight. The next day, it's a gel, so you stir some more before using it. (There's a lot of stirring in this recipe.) 

Step 6: For every cup of the detergent, you add a cup of water. We figured the easiest thing to do is fill an empty detergent bottle halfway with the homemade detergent, then fill the rest up with water. Shake it up, then add a lid full of detergent to your laundry. The water doesn't get sudsy, but the laundry smells fresh and clean. You can add some essential oils, but we didn't. 

 Step 7: Fold clean clothes! 

Here's the recipe:

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

4 cups Hot Tap Water

1 bar Fels-Naptha Soap

1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda**

½ cup borax

Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over med-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

Fill 5 gallon bucket half full of tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir until dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

To use: Dilute concentrate mixture 1 to 1 with water. Shake well before each use, mixture will gel.

Optional: Add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons once soap has cooled. (lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil)

HE machines ¼ - ½ cup per load

Standard machines ¾ cup per load

** must be “super washing soda” baking soda will not work nor will Arm & Hammer detergent.