DIY Laundry Detergent

This weekend I decided to do something a little crazy... I made my own laundry detergent!

Now before you freak out and think I've gone all granola on you, I didn't do it because I think the chemicals in laundry detergent are harmful to the environment. I just simply hate spending $8-$10 on laundry detergent every few months (I quit buying the cheap stuff because they make the colors fade). So when I saw this tutorial for making your own laundry detergent that works better than normal detergent, and how easy Jen made it look, I decided to try it! Jen says that this laundry detergent should cost $28 a year if you're doing 6 loads a week.... I don't know about you but between the two of us we probably only do 2-3 loads every 2 weeks. So based on her math that works out to less than $6 a year for our laundry!! Plus the fact that it has fabric softener in it, so I'm thinking I won't have to buy any more dryer sheets either.

To make your own laundry detergent you will need:

1 (4 lb. 12 oz.) box of 20 Mule Team Borax

1 (3 lb.) container of OxyClean (optional, but definitely will make it more effective)

2 (2 lb.) boxes of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

1-2 (55 oz.) bottles of Purex Crystals fabric softener

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

2 (14.1 oz.) bars of Zote soap (or Fels Naptha)

Everything should be found in the detergent aisle, except for the baking soda which is in the cooking aisle.

I spent $23 on all the products I could find at Target. Two of the products - Zote soap and Super Washing Soda - I couldn't find at Target. I found them on Amazon for a total of $18.23 and with my prime membership they shipped in 2 days for free. (I considered buying all the ingredients at Amazon in the future, but I discovered that most of them cost more on Amazon than at Target.) The total I spent is about $42, plus $4.50 for a large plastic bin to store it.

It sounds like I spent more than Jen, since she claimed to spend $27 for everything. I'm not really sure how she did that?? The Zote soap and Super Washing Soda must be a lot cheaper to buy in-store. However, I am still confident that the $42 I spent will go a long way, and in the end be much cheaper than buying detergent by the bottle!

Before I mixed everything together, I put everything in the bin just to make sure it would fit!

With all the gaps in between the boxes I figured I had enough room to add in the Purex Crystals, too.

It's a no-brainer to figure out how to mix all the dry ingredients together. However, the Zote soap bars had to be grated. Yes, I said grated. Like with a cheese grater. This part got a little weird. Let me reveal to you the pink cheese.

It looked really cool when I put it all together in the bin! I only put in half of each ingredient first just to make it easier to mix.

I used a slotted spoon for mixing. I think that helped.

Jen said she used the Purex bottles to store a smaller amount for everyday use. I quickly discovered that the hole to pour out of it was too small and the shredded Zote soap was getting stuck in it. So I brainstormed. I considered buying another smaller plastic bin, but decided on just using the OxyClean container, since it would be easy to scoop out of and it was FREE! I also held onto the scoop that came with it.

Since I didn't want it to have the OxyClean label, I painted over it in a color I love! I homemade the detergent, so why not have a homemade container for it??

One other awesome thing about this detergent is that you only need to use 1-2 tablespoons per load! Seriously, this stuff will last me forever. Line 1 in the OxyClean scoop is conveniently about 2 tablespoons.

Here it is on top of my dryer for easy access.

I keep the larger bin up on the shelf, and when I  run out of detergent in my pink bin I'll just pull it down for a refill. The bin ended up being the perfect size!

So far I have done 3 loads and I love the way my clothes smell when they come out of the dryer! I am excited that my Target shopping list will not have laundry detergent on it for a long time.

Have you done anything lately that's a little bit "granola?" Do you make your own household products? Have you made your own laundry detergent before?

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