Homemade Laundry Detergent

It’s surprising – pleasantly so. For the past month, every time I put a load of laundry in the washer or grab it from the dryer, a smile of pride flits across my face. I look for stains that are no longer there. I smell for odors that are no more. Then, with the look of a mother watching her child complete something taught by her , I send a glance of admiration to the quart jar holding my homemade laundry detergent. It actually works pretty well. To be honest, I don’t really consider it homemade as much as I consider it home mixed. If it was difficult to make, I probably wouldn’t have attempted it. In fact, I didn’t even follow the directions perfectly, and yet it still works. Try it for yourself.

      Ingredients:

            1 cup Borax (found in the laundry section of Walmart)

            1 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (found in the same spot)

            1 4.5 oz bar of soap, preferably Ivory or Fels-Naptha (found in the same spot)

      Kitchen Implements:

            A bowl for mixing

            A grater

            A spoon for stirring

Directions:

Grate one bar of soap. Add the Borax and washing soda. Stir for five minutes. That’s it! The bar of soap I use is actually 5.5 oz, so I just pour a little more of the other two ingredients in. I also don’t grate it as finely as others suggest, because it takes too much time.

 Use 1-2 Tablespoons per laundry load.

I have high hopes that I might, sooner than later, try out other natural alternatives for household products. True, in the past some of these have seemed too labor intensive but, just maybe, the success I’ve had with this laundry detergent will give me the confidence I need to explore the possibilities.