DIY Laundry Detergent {tutorial}

Unfortunately, I don't have any basement updates for you today. We took a break this weekend. I was on matron of honor duties making centerpieces and Chad was away visiting his brother so no renovations took place! I thought I would take this time to share my homemade laundry detergent recipe that we have been using. 

Let me start out by sharing our laundry detergent dilemma. I am a Tide girl. My family has used Tide my whole life. I think it smells great and gets clothes clean. Chad is a "whatever is cheapest at the store" kinda guy. So when we got married we went back and forth between Tide and cheap off-brand detergents. I didn't think that the off-brand soaps got our clothes clean enough and Chad couldn't stand to spend $15 on a small bottle of detergent that would last us 2 weeks. I will admit, when I saw these pinterest posts about making your own laundry detergent I was a little skeptical. I needed something that smelled great but also got our clothes clean! 

Then I stumbled upon this post and she seemed to have the same dilemma as me. She promised clean, good smelling clothes for a CHEAP price. So I thought I would give it a go and I am very pleased with the result. 

Here is what I used:

one. two. three. four. five. six

Here is the recipe: 

1 (4lb) box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

1 (3lb 7 oz) box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

1 (4lb 12oz) box Borax 

5 (5.5 oz) bars Fels-Naptha soap

1 (3lb) container OxiClean

1 (55oz) Bottle Purex Cyrstals Fabric Softener (I used the Lavender Blossoms flavor but they have others)

You will also need a cheese grater and a LARGE tub or bucket. 

Start by grating the 5 bars of soap on the cheese grater into the tub/bucket. This is the hardest part and gives you a nice arm workout! Be sure not to grate your hand! Once all the bars are grated, dump in the rest of the ingredients and mix well. The OxiClean came with a measuring cup which I used to stir it all up. It takes awhile to get everything mixed together and it makes a TON of detergent! Save the Purex bottle and cap. I filled the Purex bottle with the homemade detergent and this was easier to work with than the HUGE tub. I use the cap to measure the detergent for each load. Just 3/4 of a cap full for a large load of laundry. 

I made this back in September (5 months ago) and I still have over half of my tub still left over. I have no doubts that this will last us a year. I do about 4-6 loads of laundry a week. 

Okay here is the best part. This only cost $33. I got everything from Kroger, most was found in the laundry isle. $33 for a year supply of laundry detergent cannot be beat. It leaves our clothes with a subtle clean/lavender scent and it really works to get the clothes clean!

I am super happy with this recipe and recommend it!