DIY Laundry Detergent

Just for the record, I have been trying to publish this same post for the last week and a half now. I am not sure what the problem was. I have reported the error to Blogger but gotten nothing in return. I am finally trying it from Internet Explorer instead of Google Chrome (my default browser) and apparently this is working. Here goes nothing!

So after doing some research into making my own cleaners for our home, I decided DIY laundry detergent would be one of the most cost-effective ways to do so. Using the following recipe, it is said to cost less than ONE cent per load! With four kids ages 1 to 8 years old (and now full time child care operating out of our home), laundry can be a killer. We were buying an average of 2 “family size” liquid laundry detergent containers, 1-2 softeners, and 1-2 boxes of dryer sheets every month. With the prices as they are right now, the laundry detergent alone was costing us about $30 per month. Because this laundry soap requires less soap than traditional store-bought soap to effectively clean your clothing, it costs even less comparatively. This recipe costs our family only $4.45 per month. Less than $5 per month for laundry detergent!!!!! How is that for thrifty! Now will you be willing to spend about 15 minutes of your time preparing this super clean-smelling detergent to clean your clothes with? I know I am willing to give up that little bit of my time for that little bit of my money.

 

Here is the recipe, found on Pinterest, originally pinned from Frugally Green.

 

•  Some kind of bucket to mix all your ingredients in. I used a 3 gallon bucket.
• A large boiling pot.
• 1/3 bar of Pink (or original) Zote Laundry Soap (you can also use Fels Naptha, Octagon, or Ivory--amounts may vary) – 2 pk for $6.78.
• 1/2 cup Borax Laundry Booster – 76 oz box for $10.70.
• 1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda – 55 oz box for $9.19.

**I bought everything online at Amazon.com with free SuperSaver shipping, but supposedly you can find all of these items in any Walmart store. I put the prices and sizes I got online in case you are interested in getting a good deal online. I spent a total of $26.67 and this will make 6 batches worth using the Zote I have, but 3 more if I spend another $3.68 to buy an additional bar of Zote. 

 

Step 1: Cut your bar of Zote Soap into thirds and finely grate one third of it. Save the other two thirds because next time you make a batch of laundry soap it will feel like you are doing it for FREE!

 

Here is a close-up of the shredded curls of Pink Zote soap. They are super soft and addicting to play with. You have been warned. :)

 

Here is the 1/2 cup of each powdered ingredients. 

 

Here is where the pictures (with the exception of the final) stop because I was being assisted by my 8-year-old, who I was not going to allow to take pictures with the Galaxy SIII, holding it over the pot of boiling soap... Sorry, use your imagination. :)

 

Step 2: Put your grated soap in a pot with 6 cups of water and heat on low until the soap melts. Don't let the soap boil. Once all the soap is completely melted add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Continue stirring until the mixture thickens (almost as thick as honey) Remove from heat.

 

 

Step 3: Pour 4 cups of hot tap water into your bucket. Add the soap mixture and stir it up. At this point you could add a few drops of essential oil like lavender or tea tree oil if you wanted your soap to have a fragrance. Add nothing and your clothes will simply smell clean. I personally really like the smell of the pink Zote, so I didn’t add a thing.

 

 

Step 4: Now add about 12-14 cups of hot tap water to the bucket. The original recipe calls for “one gallon plus 6 cups” but when I did that it came out way too runny. Give it another few minutes of stirring and then let it sit overnight. 

 

 

 Step 5: In the morning your soap might look runny, or like gel, or separated with big clumps of slime on top and water on the bottom. This is all normal depending on the weather, the type of soap you used, etc. At this point you can be done and simply keep your laundry soap in the bucket and just scoop out 1/2 cup per load (like me). Or you can give it another good stir and funnel it into your old, well-rinsed laundry soap container (like I intended to do and still kind of do). Or you can spend the money you saved on the first batch and buy a cute container and cup to store it in. You will need a wide-mouthed funnel of some sort to do this and probably a helper.

 

Here is mine, still in the bucket, two weeks later.