I know normally, I blog about homeschool activities but, this weekend I spent some of my time doing a few other things that I think you will want to hear about. I made Do-It-Yourself laundry detergent and Dish-washing Detergent. Thanks to some lovely ideas and instructions found on Pintrest it was actually a breeze! My friend tried the laundry detergent a couple of weeks ago and gave it positive reviews so she inspired me to give it a try as well. Below I have posted both of the “recipes” that I followed as well as pictures of the ingredients and the finished products so you can get an idea of the quantity.
I was able to make the Laundry Detergent for about $30 and you only use 1-2 Tbsp per load. I have read different comments stating that this can last for between 8-12 months. That is pretty amazing for the price!
The dish-washing detergent is a bit harder to give cost estimation because I bought large enough quantities of the ingredients to make several batches. What I can tell you is it is a lot cheaper than the name brand detergent that I was buying before. Again you only use 1 Tbsp per load of dishes.
DIY Laundry Detergent Recipe
1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax- Found in the detergent aisle ( as a note: I have read that if you have a well and septic system(i.e. you don’t have “city” water and sewage services) then the use of Borax can impact your septic system negatively so be cautious!)
1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda- Found in the detergent aisle
1 (3 lb) Container of OxyClean- Found in the detergent aisle
2 (14.1 oz) Bars of Zote Soap- Found in the detergent aisle (You can use pink if you like a stronger scent but white is good if you or someone in your family has more sensitive skin. You can also use Fels Naptha soap.) You grate this with a cheese grater, the hardest part of the process.
1 (4 lb) Box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda- Found in the cooking aisle or on the laundry detergent aisle
1-2 (55 oz) Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener- Found in the detergent aisle (This is optional. You may want to leave this out if you or someone in your family has sensitive skin)
The Ingredients
This is the finished product. The picture is the finished detergent scooped back into the Purex Crystals container with the label removed. Another very smart blogger stated that you can do this and use the purple cap to measure. It is marked with three lines the first one is about 1 Tbsp and the second one is about 2 Tbsp.
DIY Dishwashing Detergent
In a big bowl or container- combine:
2 cups of Borax
2 cups of washing soda
2 cups of LemiShine
1 cup of Kosher Salt
This is the finished Dish-washing detergent.
To Give Credit where credit is due, here are the links to the original posters of both (to the best of my knowledge):
http://chestnutgroveacademy.blogspot.com
You know… I been hearing that there have been lots of thefts of laundry detergent recently. I wonder if there might be a way to post this recipe to people who could really use the money savings. I am not sure how one might get that to them though
I don’t know…I am planning to make some for our clothing closet (program that donates clothes to those in need) for my church and I am going to attach the recipe card to the containers.