OK, I broke down and tried it. I did. I admit it. I tried the homemade laundry detergent. My one word description is: impressive.

Some months back my friend Mel Suderman, wife, mother, homemaker, and librarian, was talking on FB about making homemade laundry detergent and how much money it was saving her.

With 5 people and a dog in the family, I know Mel is an experienced laundress. And whats more, she has a husband and son who like to play hard. Like working on cars and driving motorcycles kind of hard. So not only does she do a lot of laundry, she is really dealing with some serious dirt.

She gave me the recipe for the liquid form of the detergent she was brewing up. The ingredients were simple and easily attainable items in the cleaning isle at most stores. Wal-Mart would certainly have everything I needed.

Unscented bar soap, Borax, and Washing Soda.

The recipe Mel gave me was for like 5 gallons of the liquid detergent, and I wasn’t sure I really wanted to jump into a batch that size and then discover I didn’t care for the way it performed.

So I started reading on the internet about similar recipes and discovered a few for dry detergents in much smaller batches. All of them contained at least the three ingredients Mel had given me in her recipe.

After trying a couple different variations on the recipe, this is what I came up with. (I make it in much larger batches but broke it down in a smaller batch for you to try)

Ingredients:
1/3 bar of soap (Ivory, Fels Napfha, or Zote)
1/2 cup Borax (20 Mule Team brand recommended)
1/2 cup washing soda (Arm & Hammer brand recommended)
Do not confuse washing soda with baking soda. They are not the same thing.

Use 1-2 Tablespoons per regular wash load.

Directions:

Using a cheese grater to grate 1/3 of the bar of soap into a bowl.

Add Borax and washing soda,

and stir until bar soap is well broken up and blended completely with dry ingredients.

This is what it is going to look like when it’s all broken up and blended well.
You could actually pulse this in your food processor and break it up much finer. Don’t over process though or it will melt the soap and cause clumping.

The photo shows what it takes to wash 1 load of clothes, 2 tablespoons.

That’s right, 2 tablespoons of this stuff really packs a punch. Extra large or heavily soiled clothes; I use 3 tablespoons.

To compare usage amounts (commercial detergent vs homemade) here’s what a measure of homemade detergent looks like in your commercial laundry scoop.)

Store detergent in a cool dry place in a container with lid. This recipe will fit into a small cottage cheese container or butter bowl.

Variations for this recipe:

• Add 1/2 cup Clorox all fabric bleach to maintain vibrant colors in your clothing and added stain removal. (I personally have not found this a necessary step.)
• Add essential oils to scent your detergent. (I do not use essential oils as the detergent is something that should completely rinse from your wash. Why add something you are going to wash and rinse completely away?)

Although the detergent has a clean fresh smell in the container (depending on what bar soap you start with), your clothes will come out of the wash with the absence of smell. No odor at all. I was amazed.

Here’s the fun part, which totally blows my mind.
Cost of doing a single load of laundry with my store-bought detergent and additives: 63 cents per load.
Cost of doing a single load of laundry with my new homemade detergent: 10 cents per load

Seriously, I am saving 53 cents per load, and with all the laundry I do, that is a substantial savings.

I have several animals which means I go through several blankets, furniture covers, and doggie beds each week. That’s about 6 loads per week right there, and that’s in good weather. If it rains, well, I won't go into detail about what my washer endures.

Top that off with my not being a big fan of cramming our landfills full of disposable paper towels, and the mountain of cloth towels and rags I use each week would scare a normal person.

And not only does this detergent work well on hard dirt and odors, it's great for anyone with sensitive skin.

Some discoveries I made while trying out these recipes:

• Aside from being seriously economical, this detergent is safer to both the environment and you, than any commercial detergent! This mix contains no dyes, perfumes, or other components to irritate skin or pollute the environment.
• During the time I have used this detergent my dog has not had any mysterious skin break outs. (She’s allergic to everything including commercial laundry detergent apparently.)
• I have had no dry itchy skin.
• My clothes all look and smell clean. I worried about the dog bedding not coming clean and smelling fresh but I was pleasantly surprised. There was absolutely no smell remaining in the bedding what so ever.
• I gave some of the detergent to a friend of mine who cannot use any detergents with any kind of perfume in it or it causes her respiratory distress. After trying out this detergent she says she will never buy laundry detergent in the store again. She has had no allergy issues with the homemade detergent.
• A couple of hunters also let me know that the detergent was perfect for their hunting clothes as they want zero scent on them when they go out into the woods.
• I have not noticed any visible difference in the color of my clothing. Nothing appears to be faded or dull. Whites are still coming out white, colors still bright.
• I still use fabric softener sheets because I want to eliminate static in my laundry. The scent is much softer from the fabric sheets when using the homemade detergent.
• If you want to soften your clothes , use a 1/2 cup white vinegar in your rinse cycle to soften fabric. Your clothes WILL NOT smell like vinegar when they come out of the dryer. They will have no smell at all.
• When I wash my cleaning rags, I don’t use any fabric softener sheets. This allows me to use cloth rags to clean glass without streaking. There is no residue left over in your laundry from this detergent.
• Because this detergent requires such a small measure per load, it’s space saving and is convenient for campers, truck drivers, or anyone who travels.
• This recipe does not create suds and therefore is fine to use in top front loading machines. It is however recommended that you cut the measurement in half for front loaders.
• This recipe would be a perfect money saver for animal rescues and shelters that wash a lot of animal bedding.