Easy Homemade Clothes Detergent

Now, I know a thing or two about making homemade clothes detergent...  With three boys 7 and under, we do unholy amounts of laundry every day!!  We consistently wash 3 loads a day of clothes, towels and another load which varies every day, so I have been making the homemade stuff for years, actually...  The only problem-o?  Never used it for cold water items; yep, that's true.  We have washed all of our HOT items in homemade detergent because that mean, old hot water can melt the shredded up soap, but...

I just never really bought into the whole using it on cold water items.  Not because I didn't think it would work or clean our clothes, but I didn't think the chunks of soap would melt and rinse off of our clothes.

Well, I made up my own recipe and by golly, it's a keeper!!  Now, I totally lucked out as the clearance gods were pointing me to a name brand cold detergent, but this recipe, it's quick and easy-peasy!!  The best part is, that I can't tell a difference between my homemade version and the liquid (off brand, store bought) detergent I used before!!  It still smells great and I have clean clothes!  The real difference is in price, even though I used a third of the amount suggested on the store bought, liquid detergent, by stretching the powder detergent and mixing in the other cleaners it will last longer than my old, liquid did.


Even better than saving money, though you don't have to shred a thing!! I opened all the boxes, mixed them in a garbage bag and poured it into my containers!!  It's that easy!!  It took me a total of 10 minutes, most of which was spent trying to open the boxes?  Really, they are dangerous to get into with scissors!  :)

Look at how nicely it's mixed up! 

Now, you don't just have to use this on cold water items only.  This is a good starter recipe if you want to start stretching your money (and detergent) when washing ANY of your laundry.  

I will include a tute, just because some people really need it, but I love this recipe!

Materials:

1 box Borax
1 box Coldwater Detergent (powder) or your favorite, all-purpose Detergent in powder form
1 box Super Washing Soda
1 bucket Oxygen Stain Remover/Cleaner
1 big container to mix - I used a double bagged, garbage bag
Containers to store
Scoop - mine came in the Oxygen Cleaner.  There was also one in the detergent, but it's way too big...

1. Open all boxes/buckets and pour into mixing container.
2.  Mix, mix, mix.
3. Pour into smaller storage containers.
4.  Use 1 to 3 scoops per load.  My washer has it's own powdered soap spot, which is actually the same spot as liquid, so I put it there.  If you don't have a 'special' place, you can sprinkle it where you would normally put a powder detergent.

Love, love, love saving money on something like this!!  I am stretching our dollar even further, because I bought the detergent on clearance AND am maximizing the cleaning power and savings!  A great way to save money and not feel like we are scrimping in any way!!  How do you like to save money without making it into a four letter word?

Take Care,
Morgan

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