Make your own laundry detergent (the repeat)

Since I posted this on Facebook a few months ago before I had a blog, I thought I would share it again for anyone interested in trying to make their own laundry soap. We've been using this exclusively since October of 2008 and are very happy with the results. If you enjoy playing a bit of mad scientist in the kitchen, you will find this quite easy and fun, too!





First you need a bar of Zote (or Fels Naptha or even Ivory). Just don't use anything with lotion or "moisturizer" in it. I buy this in the grocery store. It's Mexican. It costs about $1 or less.It takes about 5 minutes to grate this BIG bar. If you find a coupon for this, let me know. I've never seen one. By the way, this was bought in Garden Fresh. I've not seen it in Walmart, Jewel or Dominicks (those three carry Fels Naptha). My friend used Ivory. This will also work just fine.

Grate the Zote with a cheese grater into a 5 qt pot.

You need these two on hand. I use one cup of each. More on this later. A box of each will last almost a year.

Addd 6 cups of water to the pot of Zote and stir stir stir over heat until dissolved.

See, all liquefied.

Add the cup of Borax and cup of washing soda. Stir till dissolved. Be sure to sitr WELL as it will clump.

Add this to a 5 gallon bucket. I do it while it's hot.

This is the bucket I use. It's perfectly fine. It never held anything dirty in it. And I washed it out.

You fill the remaining space of the bucket with hot water. And they you put on the lid and let sit over night. It gels to a pretty pink consistency. This much will last me almost 6 months. I use one cup or less each load. Although it looks sudsy, it really doesn't suds much in the wash at all. And it costs be about $2 for 5 gallons of detergent.

The next morning, when it has cooled completely, it turns to this lovely gel. You can stir it up if you'd like, but it isn't necessary. I use one cup (or a half of a cup if not really soiled) per load. You can also transfer some to a smaller bottle and shake it occasionally. After a while I get lazy and don't do anything to it and it still works fine.

Hope you enjoyed this little laundry diversion!

PS: you CAN use this in a front loader. It doesn't really suds at all. I'd just use the same amount you normally use of this detergent.