How to make Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent – DIY for pennies a load Part II

Today I made the detergent.  See the Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent recipe from Part I.

All in all it took me maybe an hour between grating the two bars of soap and mixing them in a pot on my stove until it melted well.  Not very tedious or hard to do one bit.

Breakdown of my expenses:

3 pounds 7 ounces for washing soda = 55 oz (8 oz needed)  enough for 6 batches  $3.24

4 pounds 12 ounces for borax  =  76 oz (4 oz needed) enough for 19 batches  $3.38

Fels Naptha bar soap 97 cents

Zote bar soap 99 cents (optional)

(optional Bucket with lid (walmart) $3.75 one time purchase)

$7.59

What it produced:

256 loads at 5 oz a load and 10 gallons (5 gallon soap mixed in container with water 50/50)

.0296 or .03 cents a load.

Next batch, no need to buy the washing soda or the borax, total spent out of pocket $1.96 You can make 256 loads of detergent for under $2!

Some people add a bar of Ivory soap for scent instead of the Zote.  I added the Zote to get more bang for my buck as I already use it to pre-treat stains its amazing when you use it on heavily soiled clothing.  I found it today in Walmart but usually buy it when I go to the 99 cent store.

Have I tested it?  No, per the instructions it needs to sit overnight and then I will fill a container half way with the detergent mix and then add water.

So far what do I think?  Looks and smells really good once I do the wash test I may be completely sold on this detergent.  If you usually wash 10 loads of laundry a week, two batches of this laundry detergent would be enough for a year, that would be under $10 spent on laundry detergent.  I’m almost convinced.  Even if you double that amount its still $20 which is what one big jug of Tide costs for a year that’s a lot of savings.

Until tomorrow Princess T☺

Your supplies: washing soda, Borax and Fels Naptha bar soap.  Optional, add a bar of Zote for extra cleaning power.  The scent/color I used is the pink bar.

Cooking the grated bars of soap in 4 cups of water until melted.

The cooked melted and mixed batch, leave over night to set/gel.

See the results!  

How to make Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent – DIY for pennies a load Part III – Results

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