No Food, Just Laundry Detergent

It has been 3-4 years since I last bought laundry detergent. I decided that I wouldn't pay more than $5 per 100 oz and I think my expectations were just too high. I couldn't find laundry detergent even close to that price! So, I went scouring the internet for recipes and mostly they are the same. It seems that they pretty much just vary in their preparation.

Did you know that the suds *do not* have anything to do with how clean your clothes will be? I've never really put much thought into this, but it doesn't surprise me. Think about when we take a bath or shower. We're looking for lots of suds from our soap, bubble bath, shower gel, and even shampoo. It would make sense that we would associate suds with cleanliness. Not true when it comes to laundry. I can tell you that it's also not true with shampoo. I recently started using WEN by Chaz Dean and it is a sudsless hair shampoo that works wonderfully. But I digress... you be the judge. Try the soap and let me know what you think. The cost is ridiculously low. I paid less than $8 for the ingredients. The bar of soap is gone, but I still have tons of washing soda and borax left. Love this stuff!

Here ya go. My rendition of what I found on the internet.

Liquid Laundry Detergent

• 1 bar Fels-Naptha soap (find in the laundry soap isle, about $.97)
• 1 c. Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (DO NOT confuse with baking soda)
• 1 c. 20-Mule Borax

1. Cut the soap into pieces (like paring an apple). You can also shred the soap is you have one of those shredders (I don't as we use a mandolin). Also, I've kept any kitchen tools that I used in my soap making process separate. If you want to substitute Fels for another kind of soap, be careful. Most soaps are too sudsy. In my internet searches, I found that Ivory or Zote were good substitutes.
2. Place soap pieces in a 4-quart saucepan, add 2 qts hot water, and melt on med-high heat; stir frequently until all soap pieces are melted.
3. Add washing soda and borax to soap mixture. Continue to stir frequently, but DO NOT let it boil. A low-rolling boil is okay, but not a fast/high boil as the mixture will boil over. Once the powders are all dissolved, remove from heat.
4. Have 3-1 gallon containers cleaned and ready to use. I saved 1 gallon Sunny D juice containers.
5. Stir mixture and pour 3 1/3 cups into each bottle. Immediately add 4 cups hot water to each bottle and shake vigorously. If it looks foamy, don't worry, it will all blend together perfectly.
6. After mix has cooled down a bit in each bottle, add 4 cups hot water and shake it up again. The mixture will be gelatinous and shaking it up will help to break the gel apart.
7. This is the last step. Let the mixture cool again. Add 3 cups hot water and shake it, shake it, shake it! There should be enough room at the top of the bottle for shaking up the mixture before use. Your house will smell divine for the entire day!

I've used the detergent for the last 2 weeks and like it so far. I use 1/2 cup per regular load of laundry, which I will probably reduce when doing delicates, baby clothes, or smaller loads. I was impressed that the laundry had very little smell; even my hubby's stinky kitchen clothes didn't smell stinky! :-)

Please leave comments and let me know what you think.