Powder and Liquid Laundry Detergent Recipes

Hi ladies,

Here are the frugal tips from the Mom's Workshop # 2 at our home school group.

The question many of us had about these recipes is :Do they work as well as the commercial products? The answer, without exception is "Yes!" and for pennies on the dollar. Make your own and save lots of $$$$

For Homemade laundry detergent you need: 1 bar body soap, 1/2 c. borax, 1/2 c. Arm and Hammer Washing Soda. Shred a bar of soap and mix in with borax and washing soda. Store in labeled container.
Home made laundry detergent powdered (version I use)one 14 oz bar of Zote laundry soap (Big lots and Walmart carry it in the laundry section.)2 c. borax and 2 cups of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (Both are in Walmart and King Soopers laundry section). Shred Zote soap and add borax and washing soda Mix well. Use 1 TBS per load. Store in a labeled container.
You can also cut the bar soap up into smaller pieces and mix all the ingredients in the food processor with the S blade.
I would recommend going to youtube.com and typing in home made laundry detergent and watch the videos. Jen at Frugal upstate and the hippees have the easiest videos to watch for powdered detergent. There are also videos on making liquid detergent as well.

Homemade Laundry Soap (2 gallons of liquid)
½ bar of Ivory soap (or any bar soap you desire)½ cup of washing soda½ cup of borax powder-a pot that will hold 2 gallons
Grate the soap and put in a large sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap dissolves. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Now add 1 gallon and 10 cups of water and stir. Let the mixture sit for 24 hours and it will gel. Stir after 24 hours until soap has the consistency of egg drop soup. Use ½ cup per load in a top loading washer, and ¼ cup in a front loading washer.

Here is another tip–Recycle as much trash as you can to cut down on your trash volume. Does your city have a recycle center? Combine trash with another family or families in you neighborhood and all families involved split the trash bill.