Laundry Detergent

I was running low on laundry detergent so I figured I would take pictures while I made it so I could do a quick post.  Making my own laundry detergent was something I've wanted to do for a while but I had a huge bottle of detergent I wanted to use up first.  This was my second time making it, it takes about 5 minutes to make and I have absolutely no complaints about it.  I will admit that at first I missed that "clean laundry smell," because it leaves my clothes with virtually no smell at all.  You can add essential oils if you want, but there is no need, my clothes are clean and odor free.  I'm actually quite impressed with it, when it comes to washing strong odors (like if Alex wets the bed or Aaron throws up) everything still comes out clean on the first wash.

Ingredients:

• 1 bar of Ivory Soap
• 1 cup of Borax
• 1 cup of Washing Soda

 Directions:

Put  your bar of soap into a large microwave safe bowl (I prefer glass) and microwave for about 2 minutes (it has to be ivory for this to work, if you choose to use fels naptha you will have to grate it by hand).  I like to flip it after a minute just to make sure all of it fluffs up.  It will look like this.

 After it has cooled crumble it with your hands.  I just break it up enough so that it will fit in my Blendtec and then pulse it til it is smooth.  Pour your Borax and Washing into your bowl and add your soap.  Mix it up good (I use a wisk) then transfer it to a container.  Use 1tbsp per load.  I wash between 6-9 loads of laundry a week and this batch will last me about 2-2.5 months.