Homemade Laundry Detergent

Thanks to my friend BA who blogs at Thrifty Living, I have decided to give homemade laundry detergent a try. (BTW-she has a great blog-I recommend you check it out!) I'm a person who uses cloth diapers so making my own laundry detergent seemed to be the next step. Most people who use cloth diapers also like to be thrifty and earth minded in other ways too (if you haven't noticed?!?!). I must admit, I was quite skeptical of the whole idea though. How could three simple ingredients really get those cloth inserts clean? I had been using Nellie's washing soda since I started cloth diapering in the summer and have been pleased with it, however you have to buy it online and it costs about $9.00 per 50 load bag. Awhile back, my dear friend, had very detailed instructions on her blog about how to make your own laundry detergent. A few weeks ago, I got the ingredients and made my own too. It is unbelievably cheap and unbelievably simple. You have to try it! I even made some for a friend and sent it to her earlier this week. I am looking forward to hearing what she thinks (hint-SB-leave a comment!)

I have been using it for several weeks now and I am very impressed with the results. Very clean and fresh smelling cloth diaper inserts. And then I thought, if I am using it for the dirtiest and stinkiest items in my house, why not use it for all my laundry needs. So, I have been using it for other stuff too and I do think it works very well.

So what's in it:

1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

1 bar of soap (Yardley Almond) chopped

(To wash laundry you only need to use 1 Tbsp./load!!!!)

Place the chopped bar soap in the food processor and blend to fine pieces.

Add other ingredients and process until it is a fine powder. Make sure the bar soap pieces are nice and tiny to make them easier to dissolve in the washing machine.

I keep the detergent in a plastic container with a tablespoon measuring spoon right in my laundry room. I found the Borax and washing soda at Acme and got them for free with some Acme catalinas I had, but it will cost you about $5.00 and should last awhile. Oh, please note that Borax is an awesome laundry detergent enhancer. I have been using it along with my Kirkland liquid detergent and it is getting my husband's T-shirts (deodorant stains) much cleaner than ever before. I wish I knew about this stuff years ago. I found the lovely smelling Yardley soap on sale at Walgreens for $.79 each.

If you try it, let me know what you think! Thanks again BA!