Home Made Laundry Detergent

This is another recipe from the Today Show Saving Money with the Duggars. This is how to make home made laundry detergent.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups hot tap water
• 1 Fels-Naptha soap bar (or other bar of soap)
• 1 cup washing soda
• ½ cup Borax

Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

Fill a five-gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (It will gel.)

Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per two gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons. Top-load machine: 5/8 cup per load (approximately 180 loads). Front-load machine: ¼ cup per load (approx. 640 loads).

I talked with my mom about this because she had recently made her own laundry soap as well. She noticed that she was having to pre-treat some minor stains more often with her homemade laundry soap than with the store bought. With that I mind I added one container of regular store bought laundry detergent (Arm and Hammer) to the recipe to give it some added strength and that seems to have worked. I have not had any problems with the recipe. And I have a ton of it and I have no idea when it will run out!