Made it Monday - DIY Laundry Detergent

I'm not sure what motivated me to try this new trend! I can probably blame it all on Pinterest! It can usually go back to that.

Anyhoo, I am a singleton, so loads and loads of laundry are not in my repertoire. I think it was the cost saving factor. However, it didn't turn out quite as cheap as the blogs were saying. That wasn't such a big deal, because it makes a TON! I have always used the liquid detergent, so this will be a change. That liquid detergent doesn't last long, and is pretty expensive. So this recipe did cost a bit more than my average bottle of liquid detergent, but it will last much longer!

I found several recipes for homemade laundry detergent. The one I used was on the blog How does she?
If you follow that link, you will find her recipe for homemade laundry detergent. 

1 - 3 lb Washing Soda
1 - 4 lb Baking Soda (I had to buy two 2 lbs)
1 - 4 lb Borax
1 - 3 lb Tub Oxi Clean
1 - Bottle Purex Crystals Fabric Softener

5 bars Fels Naptha (5.5 oz bars). The recipe I found had 14.1 oz bars, so I just figured five at 5 oz was close enough! Meijer did not carry Zote, and I couldn't even find any Fels-Naptha. I had to ask an associate, and she checked in the back and didn't find any. However, as I was continuing my shopping, I found some over by the diary with a variety of soap! I went to tell her where she could find the product at a later date. Not sure if that was a welcomed act or not...

First thing to do is to cheese grate the soap. That takes forever! It took me about two hours including my breaks. I don't see how a person can do that in one continuous setting!! After that was finished, I just layered each item in my container to easily mix up the ingredients.

Since my Fels-Naptha is a bit yellow, you can see that within the mix. Zote soap is pink or white, and I think that would blend in much better! The soap easily dissolved in the laundry, so that wasn't a problem. This detergent smells amazing, and it cleans just as well as my old detergent! The clothes are soft and appear even whiter in some cases. I used it with the cold water cycle, and it turned out wonderfully! I have so much that I'm sure it will last for months!

Happy Monday!