Green or Clean: Project 1 ~ Homemade Laundry Detergent

I added a new challenge this month: Green or Clean. I'm going to find 30 ways to make my family more "green" and make natural cleaners. This recipe is one our family has been doing for years. It's not only a great natural cleaner but also a HUGE money saver.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

Front or top load machines & HE washer safe

Ingredients:

• 4  Cups - hot tap water
• 1  Natural soap bar (unscented) (I use Lotion Bar Cafe's Naked Bar. She doesn't have it listed on her site but you can send her a message for naked soap. It's only $5 & supports local small business). Most recipes call for Fels-Naptha soap bar. I personally like Lotion Bar Cafe's better.
• 1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda* (Usually found in the laundry soap aisle)
• 1/2 Cup Borax (Also found in the laundry soap aisle)

Laundry Soap

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. (I use my food processor to get it done quickly.) Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water (I use filtered water to prevent smells-there is a lot of chorine in our water here). 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. Mine usually looks like jello.

-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 (will gel). I use empty gallon jugs (milk jugs work great). I make sure to mark the bottles with a red X on the tops & label the sides so they aren't ever mixed up as food containers.

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil. We don't do any because of skin & fragrance allergies.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons. 10 gallons lasts our large family about 9-10 months. It costs around $15 to get started (purchasing all the materials). Then the next batch is around )$0.25 a gallon. It's around a $15/month savings for us or $175 a year!

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads) I bought a plastic measuring cup specifically for the wash and marked 5/8 cup on the side with a marker.

-Front Load Machines- 1/4 Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

-For odor removal, I add 1 cup of white vinegar to every load. 2 gallons of white vinegar are less then $4 at Sam's Club. I found this very necessary being we do not use scent in our detergent because of skin allergies. It will also work as a fabric softener.

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

I borrowed this recipe from the Dugger Family (19 kids & counting) from this recipe & added my own little touches.