How to Make Homemade Laundry Detergent­­­­

 

I love making homemade laundry detergent. I will never go back to the brand name stuff. Not only is it cheaper, but it keeps my HE washing machine and laundry fresher. No matter how many different products I tried, or how often I cleaned my machine, the musty smell would return. My clothes also quickly turned musty if I left them in there too long—especially the whites! I simply couldn’t get the smell out of them. Until now!
 
The best part is that I only use 2 tablespoons per load!
 
There are many recipes for DIY laundry detergent on the web. I tried a few different ones and finally settled on my favorite from How Does She. If you want to try it out, but you don’t want to make a ton of it at first, there is a Trial Size Version by Jillee that is similar.

 

The Benefits:

· My HE washing machine smells fresher.
· It’s much cheaper than store bought laundry detergent.
· I can control the amount of ingredients in the recipe.
· My clothes are clean and fresh.

 

The Main Ingredients:  (Find all of them in the detergent aisle.)

· 1 (4 lb. 12 oz.) Box of Borax

· 1 (3 lb. 7 oz.) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
· 2 (14.1 oz.) Bars of Zote Soap or 3 (5.5 oz.)Bars of Fels Naptha Soap
· 1 (4 lb.) Box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (If it’s not with laundry supplies, check the baking or pool supply aisles.
 

Optional Ingredients:  (Also find these in the laundry aisle.)

· 1-2 (55 oz.) Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener or the equivalent of your favorite brand such as Downy Unstoppables. (This ‘optional’ ingredient is essential for me. I love adding scent to my soap, but if you have sensitive skin or a sensitive sniffer, feel free to skip it.)
 
· 1 (3 lb.) Container of oxygen bleach (like OxyClean) (I plan to leave this out in the future and add it separately from the homemade detergent so I can control how much or how little I want depending on the load.)
 

Putting it Together:

1. Grate the bars of soap.
      *Cut them in chunks and microwave them for a few minutes until they are big and fluffy.
      *Let them cool.
      *Put them in the food processor to break them into fine crumbles.
      --or crumble them by hand.
      -- **or skip the microwave and grate them with a cheese grater on the fine grate side. 
        (NOT my favorite method, but it builds muscles!)

2. Do this in a well-ventilated area—preferably outside—away from pets and children. Borax is harmful if ingested. I recommend wearing gloves and a mask or bandanna over your nose and mouth. It makes a powdery cloud as you mix. 
 
3. Combine the ingredients in a 4-5 gallon bucket. Don’t pour it all in at once! Pour about 1/4-1/3 of each ingredient at a time and mix with a large mixing spoon, screwdriver, or your glove-wearing hands. Then repeat the process until you have mixed it all. (Trust me. Dumping it all in at once and trying to mix it is NOT fun.)
 
4. Transfer some of the detergent to a smaller container for easy dispensing. If you used the Purex Crystals, that empty bottle is perfect for dispensing the soap, and the cap has measuring lines. For lightly soiled clothes, I fill it up to the first line. For dirtier or heavier loads, I fill it to the second line or higher. Experiment to see what works for you.
 

Front-Loading Washing Machines

Yes, you can use this in your HE washing machine!

· This homemade detergent is low-sudsing. Many laundry detergents have added ingredients to create suds. The HE versions are lower-sudsing than the regular versions. This one has no sudsing agent, so it is fine for HE machines. 
 
· I pour it in the tub and not the dispensing compartment on top. Many people use the dispensing compartment without complaint, but OxyClean recommends putting its product in the tub. Since I use OxyClean in my recipe, I put it directly in the tub. I operate on the “better safe than sorry” principle here. I’m not an expert on washing machines, and I don’t want to tear mine up. Putting it in the tub is easy and cleans my clothes just fine anyway.
 
Disclaimer: I’m not a chemist. I’m not a washing machine expert. I don’t even play one on TV. Please exercise caution when mixing any household chemicals. This represents the knowledge I have gained from my personal research. Please conduct your own research and make the decisions you feel most comfortable with.