Homemade Laundry Detergent

Who would have thought that making homemade laundry detergent would be so easy?

I went the really easy route - I made a powdered detergent instead of a liquid one. Lazy? Maybe. Time saving? You bet!

1 bar soap, such as Ivory, Zote, or Dr. Bronner's

1 1/2 cup borax

1 1/2 cup washing soda (NOT baking soda)

Finely grate the entire soap bar into the container you plan to use for your detergent. Add the borax and washing soda. Mix well. Use 1 Tbsp per load (2 Tbsp if you're washing cloth diapers.)

That's it. Seriously.

I used an empty, cleaned applesauce jar for my detergent. A large, empty yogurt tub would work well, too. The scoop is from a can of formula. It's the perfect size since it measures out to be very close to a tablespoon.

(Pardon the glare.)

I found all of the ingredients at my local Kroger. The borax and washing soda was in the detergent/cleaner aisle, and the Dr. Bronner's soap was in the Natural Goods section. Ivory, Zote, and other similar soaps would be near the borax and washing soda. Dr. Bronner's is an all-natural alternative that I found to be highly recommended on several other blogs while doing research. Plus, it comes in so many different scents! Tea tree oil, peppermint, lavender... the list goes on and on. I bought almond, because I'm a little nutty about almond. (Ok, I'll stop now...)

All in all, I paid about $11-$12 for my ingredients, but I still have plenty of borax and washing soda left over to make at least two more batches of laundry detergent. That price beats the pants off the store-bought stuff any day!

For a liquid laundry detergent recipe, visit my friend Sarah's blog, NaturalFor.

- Mother Nature Mom