Homemade Laundry Detergent

Do you ever see something so many times in so many different places that you eventually have to try it for yourself? Homemade laundry detergent seems to be all the rage these days so I thought I would give it a try. I have seen this done on many blogs and all over Pinterest. The recipe is simple and costs about $12 to make. I found all the ingredients all in the same spot at Wal-Mart. I bought a 1 gallon cracker jar to put it in. Here is the recipe that I used:

*6 cups of Borax
*4 cups of Washing Soda
*4 cups of Baking Soda
*4 cups of Fels-Naptha (almost 2 bars)
Measure the first 3 ingredients into a bowl. You might want to use a bowl that has a pour spout. Grate the Fels-Naptha with a cheese grater. If you have a Kitchen-Aid with a grating attachment-use it! Other wise do it by hand like I did! Then mix it all together with a wooden spoon and pour it into an air tight container. Doesn't it look like cheddar cheese?

It has a very nice clean smell to it. From what I have read, it is safe to use in High Efficiency washers. But don't take my word for it!

To use, add 2 tablespoons to your load of laundry, just like you would a regular powdered laundry detergent. I tied a pretty bow on my jar and used a silver tablespoon to measure it out. The recipe said "almost 2 bars"...so I used almost 2 bars and the left over square inch of bar I saved. The label of the soap says that it is a great stain remover. I put it on a little pink plate so that I could use it as a stain remover when needed.

Normally when I have stains to treat, I use Murphy's Oil Soap. No kidding! Just put a little on the stain and use your fingers to really rub it into the stain. Let it sit overnight and then launder as usual. It is an amazing stain remover! But since I didn't have any, I used the Fels-Naptha to treat my stains. I just got it wet and rubbed it on the stain and washed it with my new laundry detergent. Here is a before and after so you can see how it worked. Not bad!

There are so many other homemade cleaners out there, I am definitely going to try my hand at making more. I have found recipes for homemade soap scum remover, dishwashing detergent, toilet bowl cleaner, everything you can imagine! So far I really like my new laundry detergent and plan to keep using it. I hope you give it a try too!

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Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday