How to Be Frugal by Making Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

Being unemployed, one learns how to be frugal real quickly. One of the most costly household cleaners to purchase is laundry detergent. Well, I got a recipe for you to try.

Oh yes, recycle too by keeping those empty liquid detergent containers with the no-spill caps. You can use these containers again to store your homemade laundry detergent!

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 3 pints water
• 1/3 bar Fels Naptha Soap, grated (see Tips)
• 1/2 cup Washing Soda / Sodium Carbonate-not baking soda (see Tips)
• 1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
• 2-gallon bucket to mix it in
• Additional hot water

1. Mix the grated Fels Naptha soap in a sauce pan with the 3 pints hot water and heat on low until the soap is completely dissolved.

2. Slowly stir in washing soda and borax. Stir until thickened, and remove from heat.

3. Add 1 quart hot water to a two-gallon bucket. Add soap mixture, and mix well.

4. Fill bucket to about 3 inches from the top with additional hot water, and mix well.

5. Set aside covered (for safety purposes) for 24 hours, or until mixture thickens. After the liquid thickens, you can take the empty liquid detergent container(s) to pour and store the detergent. Be sure to rinse the containers out well.

6. WASHING INSTRUCTIONS
   Use 1/2 cup of mixture per regular load; 2/3 cup for larger loads. Please note, this detergent will not make suds but cleans very well.

Tips & Warnings

• INGREDIENTS NOTES:
• FELS NAPTHA SOAP is a brand of bar laundry soap used for pre-treating stains on clothing and is a brand of the Dial Corporation and comes packaged in paper similar to bar body soap and is most often found in the laundry section of a supermarket or grocery store.
• WASHING SODA / SODIUM CARBONATE is commonly used as a water softener during laundry and it effectively removes oil, grease, and alcohol stains.
• If this article was helpful to you, please give me a good ranking. Thank you!
• Please keep liquid out of reach of children and pets. After making liquid, wash all pans, buckets and utensils well.

Resources

• Heart of Michigan Animal Rescue

[nowurcooking]

on 12/24/2008 The homemade laundry soap did save me some money when I was really broke and couldn't afford a 95 load box of Tide for $25. I used to use this soap at one time but after a while my whites got kind of dingy and gray looking. It's great for darker clothes. This soap was also great for cleaning other things when diluted. I like to keep a bar of Fels Naptha on hand in my laundry room no matter what kind of detergent I use for pre-treating stains. I used a small trash can with a lid to store my soap in.

[kidsm3]

on 11/3/2008 maybe a little glyserin will make some suds! dont need much to make a washer full!