We Made Laundry Detergent Today!

Dave thinks I'm nuts most of the time.  Even though he thinks I'm nuts, he is always very supportive of my "nutty" ideas.

My latest idea involved home-made laundry detergent.  I got the idea from pinterest, and I have been toying with making some for a while.

I got most of the ingredients at our local grocery store.  I did have to get the A&H  super washing soda and the Fels-Naptha soap at Walmart, but I try to buy locally when I can.

It was pretty easy to make and mixed together in just a few minutes.  Here's the ingredients:

Powdered Laundry Detergent:

1 box  (4lb 12oz) Borax

1 box (4lb) Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
            (I bought 2 boxes (2lb) each cause that's what the grocery had)

1 box (55 oz) Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap

2 small containers of Oxy-Clean or store brand equivalent (about 3.5 lbs total)
             (I bought the store brand from our grocery)

You can grate the Fels-Naptha soap with a cheese grater or you can be smart like me and use your food processer.

The food processor chops the soap up into little bits which helps it dissolve better in the washing machine.  It chopped the soap up quickly -- like in 1 minute!

Then you just combine all the ingredients together.  Dave and I mixed it up in a clean trash bag in the kitchen trash can.  A&H Baking Soda . . .

Borax . . .

A&H Super Washing Soda . . .

Store Brand Oxygen Cleaner . . .

Grated Fels-Naptha soap . . .

Then you just stir it up real good.  I put mine in a large container to stir.  And here's what it looks like when finished.  Isn't it pretty?

I saved the oxy-clean scoops to use.  You only use 1 tablespoon a load and that's not a full scoop.

For large loads, you might want to use 2 tablespoons.  I've washed 4 loads of laundry with it today, and my clothes came out fresh and clean!  So far, I'm very happy with this detergent.

Here's the cost:

1 box Borax -------------------------------------------------------  3.89  
2 boxes A&H baking soda (4lb total) -( $1.69 each)-  3.38
2 containers store brand oxygen cleaner -($2.99 each)----   5.98 
1 box A&H super washing soda ------------------------- 3.39  
3 bars Fels-Naptha soap - ($0.97 each)-----------------------  2.91

Total:                                                                             $19.55

I'm keeping up with the number of loads I get out of one mixture.  So far, I think I'm going to come out ahead with this homemade laundry detergent as opposed to buying the name brand detergent.  I believe this stuff is going to last a long time! 

I found this recipe for laundry detergent at this site:  Being Creative To Keep My Sanity
She gives great instructions for making and using this detergent.  Also, I read the comments following the post and learned a lot more!  I would certainly encourage you to read the comments.  There's some indication that this detergent is not good for HE washers and for the sewer lines because of buildup.  The solution for that is to run an empty load in the washer using 1 cup of vinegar with the hot water at least once a month.  It's supposed to clean out the lines and pipes of any build up that accumulates.  I think that would be a good idea even if you don't use this laundry detergent.  Lots of other information about using vinegar as a fabric softener too.
On another subject altogether . . . Have I mentioned that we see eagles flying all over the place out here where we live?

We keep seeing one eagle in particular in the trees in our backyard.  On Tuesday, Dave and I saw the eagle carrying a stick to the tallest pine tree in our backyard.  We believe the eagle is building a nest!  Isn't that cool?!?  I got a picture of our new tenant:

That's so awesome!  Of course, when I took Charlotte out in the backyard on Sunday to show her where I thought the eagle was building its nest, I saw a coyote up on the hill watching us . . . Charlotte said he was after one of our foxtail squirrels.

Sometimes it's too much nature for this city girl!  Ha!

Hope you and yours have a great week!  Tomorrow there will certainly be some clean-smelling clothes on

                           the Ferrell boys and me!