Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

Tonight I made something that I have been wanting to make FOREVER and never have tried. I thought it was going to be complicated. It's one of those DIY things you pin on Pinterest, but never actually try. It took a total of total of about an hour, which doesn't include going to buy the ingredients you need because to be honest, who really has washing soda, borax, and a bar of laundry soap sitting around these days? So, I guess you could call this a multiple hour project. I went to Big Lots because they have scent crystals, similar to the scent beads, except half of the price. Although they don't come in the same scents as the scent beads, they are just as strong. This is also where I found the Zote bar for .90! The Borax was given to me by someone who has also tried to make homemade detergent and the Washing Soda I found at Walmart for $3.67.  

Things you will need:

Borax

Washing Soda (NOT BAKING SODA) 

Bar of soap (most use Fels-Naptha, I used Zote)

5 gal. Bucket with lid

Long spoon (preferably wooden to stop mix from boiling over)

Large pot

Cheese grater

The first step of making the laundry detergent is the longest task and the hardest you will work out of the entire process of making it. Grating the soap is fairly grueling. You want to make sure it is as fine as you can get it. It's takes a fair amount of time and not seem like you're getting anywhere but don't give up! It may take some time but it's well worth it in the end. 

You will want to fill the pot about half full with water and turn it on high. It needs to come to a boil. Once it's boiling, stir in the grated soap. Continue stirring. The soap will goop up as its melting, don't worry. Continue to stir until it is no longer goopy in consistently and entirely melted down. 

Add one cup of Borax. SLOWLY. Make sure you are stirring. During this process, a reaction occurs. If you add it too quickly, it will boil over. Wooden spoons help to keep pans from boiling over but we did not have a wooden spoon. We used a metal spoon and when it started to boil up and almost over, we started blowing on it. It did boil over once. Not a fun mess. 

Once that is stirred in and dissolved, add one cup of Borax. For some reason, when Borax is added, it thins the mixture down like this: 

It went from looking like it was going to boil over to perfectly fine. Stir that in and it will also dissolve. After dissolved, take the mixture off heat and turn off your burner. 

This is where the 5 gal. Bucket comes in handy. Fill up the bucket halfway with hot water. I ran the hot water until it was steaming and then started adding it to the bucket. I dumped a half of a bottle of scent crystals in the hot water and stirred. I wanted a stronger smell. For a smell not as strong, add less. They dissolved pretty quickly and gave the water a strong scent. The water turned pinkish in color. 

After that, you take the mixture from the stove and pour it in to the bucket and stir. Stir well. It will start to thicken up closer to a detergent-like consistency. Add water the rest of the way to the top of the bucket and let sit for 24 hours.

Now you know! Your clothes will be smelling wonderful AND be super clean for a fraction of the price you will spend buying detergent from the store! It breaks down to about 2 cents per load. Who doesn't love saving money?