Natural Lifestyle: Homemade Laundry Detergent

Yesterday I finished my first batch of homemade laundry detergent and I am happy to report that I love it! It is cheap, effective, and easy to make. I chose to make a powder form because I didn't want to mess with boiling water and making more of a mess than is absolutely necessary. There are lots of recipes one could try. Here's the one I use:

One bar of Ivory Soap (finely grated)

One Cup of Washing Soda

One Cup of Borax

That's it! It lasted me 3 weeks (as long as a bottle of Wisk would last me), but you can make 8 times that much with all the ingredients on hand if you want. I calculate that it cost me $1.32 for one batch (not including the coupon I had this time for the Ivory soap). That's $0.44/week. Before I spent at least $6.00 on a bottle of detergent; that's $2.00/week!

You can use different bar soap too, as long is it doesn't contain oils (like Caress or Dove).

BONUS TIP: I've also substituted about 1/2 cup of vinegar for Fabric Softner. Works great and SOOOOOO much cheaper. It helps remove odors, too. Doesn't have a bad smell, just no smell. (WARNING: NEVER mix Vinegar and Bleach! I'm allergic to bleach so it's not a problem here, but you might want to know this.)

Unfortunately I have no tips on how to make FOLDING the laundry any easier :( But if you are like me and HATE laundry, I do it ALL in one day ONCE a week. This way I can say "I don't have to do laundry for 6 more days!"

Happy Laundering!