After draining yet another $25 tub of Tide Free and Clear, I decided to give homemade laundry detergent a try. I’ve been reading quite a bit about it lately—benefits include cleaner laundry, a huge cost savings and product that’s better for your skin and the environment.
I found hundreds of recipes online—some for liquid detergent, some for powder. I decided to go with powder—fewer steps and less messy to manage. Here’s the adapted recipe I used:
- I bar Fels Naptha, grated
- 2 cups Arm & Hammer washing soda
- 2 cups Borax
- 1 cup baking soda
I found all of the ingredients in the laundry aisle of the grocery story. The hardest part—by far—was grating the soap. I read that Ivory is a good alternative to Fels Naptha, and so I may try that next time.
I mixed everything together, and with about $2 of ingredients, I have enough soap for about eight weeks of laundry (40-50 loads). Each load uses an 1/8 of a cup of detergent.
I used it this weekend, and I was pretty surprised at how well it handled dried mud and other stains. Olivia’s less rashy than usual, too. Plus, the laundry smelled terrific. I suppose though, that could be the new Bounce bar in the dryer. Stick it on the side of the dryer drum, and you never have to worry about adding dryer sheets.
Clearly, this type of efficiency is of utmost importance to someone who spends 45 minutes shaving soap.
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