2013-

365-

borax-

cheap-

diy-

frugal-

homemade

DIY Powder Laundry Soap

Since I’m staying home right now, I’m all about saving money!  I keep hearing about people that make their own laundry soap and how good it works.  Well we are a Tide family, and always have been.  My mom used some other kind of soap when I was little and I broke out in hives, so we have just always used Tide.  But I thought I’d give this a try!  It was super easy to make and cheap on the budget!

The Parts
1 Cup Borax
1 1/2 Cups Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (not to be confused with baking soda)
1 Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar Soap
Cheese grater (Food Processor)
 
I also added 1 bar of Ivory Soap, we had a bar lying around and thought it’d help with the smell.
Price List:
Borax Detergent Booster- $3.39
Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda- $3.24
Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar- $0.97
When it all boils down to it, your spending about $0.02 to $0.05 per load of laundry.  And since you only use a little bit of the boxes, you have more then enough for more laundry soap, just have to get another bar of Fels-Naptha (CHEAP)!!!
First you take the cheese grater, or a food processor if you have one, and shred the soap into fine bits.  This took awhile.  I also did the Ivory bar soap too so those were mixed together.  
Then I added the 1 cup of Borax and the 1 1/2 cup of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda and mixed it together.  I just used a big spoon to mix it up in a plastic container I had around the house.  
You only need to use 2 tablespoon per load (3 tablespoons if your load is heavy duty) but since I didn’t have an extra spoon I just got an extra medicine cup we had.  3 teaspoons equal 1 tablespoon so just two scoops per load and I’m all set!!  
I washed one load already and it smells great and seems to be clean!  
You could also add some of the Purex or Downy Crystals to it, but since we don’t use any softener when I was, I figured that was just an added expense we didn’t need to add.  
Can’t wait to save on the jugs of Tide! 🙂