Homemade Laundry Degergent...Success!

I was so overwhelmed with my mountain of laundry, I thought this would be the perfect day to try making my own laundry detergent. It was much simpler than I thought. The idea of grating soap was daunting to say the least, but I cleverly thought about this and used the shredder blade on my food processor. It made the task very easy. I then changed to the blade in the food processor and used it to make the soap finer and mix all other ingredients.  I then poured into a large bowl and mixed a little more. All in, I have less than 15 minutes invested from start to finish.  I calculated the cost of all ingredients used, and I would say it was a $20 investment.  I am not sure how long this will last, but should last quite a while since you only use 1 to 2 tablespoons per load.  I still have enough of each ingredient to make three or four more batches.  I didn't use any scent, but the Ivory soap reminded me of Grandma's house when I was a little girl and she would use this for our bath.  Oh, how the memories came rushing back.  This is a non-sudsing recipe, so it is safe to use in HE machines as well as conventional.  I am hoping this will help with my alergic reaction to preservatives used in normal laundry soap. 

Here are my observations from using the homemade variety.  The clothes are softer. Due to the small amount of detergent used and its ability to dissolve completely in the water, they rinsed clean.  The towels are fluffier and softer than those I washed in Tide.  I am amazed.  Since I didn't put any scent in my mix, the clothes smell clean, but not fragranced. I am really impressed with how well everything came out. I even mixed up the load and nothing faded, and all spots came out.  Here is the recipe.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

2 bars Ivory soap, grated
2 cups Washing Soda
2 cups Borax 20 Mule Team Powder
1 cup Clorox 2 powder
4 scoops Oxiclean

Grate the soap, and mix with all other ingredients until it is a fine, even powder. I used the food processor and grated he soap and then used the blade to mix everything.  Use 1 to 2 tablespoons per load.



Laundry Detergent when it has been mixed thoroughly.




Close-up of the detergent.