I just made some homemade laundry detergent. Yes, I know I'm a slow learner! I kept hearing about it and kept reading about it on Pinterest and finally decided it was time to make it.
I saved several bottles so I could make the liquid. I decided (at first) to make liquid since I have a H.E. Washer and I was afraid the grated soap wouldn't dissolve well. This morning I did another search for a recipe and came upon a website that used a food processor to make the powdered kind. It looked like a WHOLE lot less work and time and lots less messy than making the liquid kind.
So, I made a recipe using 1 bar Fels Naptha soap, 1 1/2 cups borax and 1 1/2 cups washing soda. It took a total of about 5 minutes. I put it into 2 quart jars--neither are full. I left the lid off for a while because the detergent was warm for a few minutes after making it.
I came across several recipes with different measurments for the ingredients. So, I used kind of an "average" amount. LOL Some recipes used 1 cup of borax and soda for each bar of soap, some used 1 1/2 cups and some used 2 cups. So, I went with 1 1/2 cups.
The method I used came from:
http://thethriftycouple.com/
Look at the top where it says "frugal living" and then there is a tab for "homemade products". It is really cool how the ivory soap makes foam in the microwave and then you can crumble it. But, I don't like the smell of ivory soap. There are several other homemade items that look like they would be good too.
Tammy