Extreme Saving - Making Laundry Detergent
It never ceases to amaze me that you can find anything on the internet. I have always considered myself a frugal person but not an extremely frugal person. Then I read numerous stories on the internet on people who go to great lengths to slash their spending. I decided to embark on some of the suggestions and decided to make homemade laundry detergent.
If you search Google or Yahoo there are many recipes for homemade laundry detergent. The one I picked called for 2 cups of grated bar soap (I used plain Ivory), 2 cups of Borax, and 2 cups of washing soda. I also had to buy a 5 gallon bucket and lid (for storage). The soap was $.35 a bar (I used about 1.5 bars), the Borax was under $3.00 and the washing soda was around $3.00. The bucket and lid was about $4.00. My total investment was less than $12.00. Because the Borax and washing soda comes in a box, I should have enough for at least 2 more batches of homemade detergent.
It was simple enough to make, I just boiled the Ivory soap in water and then mixed it with the Borax and washing soda in the bucket. I then added 2 gallons of water. The recipe said to use ¼ cup of the mixture in each load so that means that each gallon should be enough for 48 loads of laundry. That’s 96 loads of laundry per batch.
The detergent seems to work fine. I did not do any special testing, but I did wash several shirts that were stained and the stains came out. Also, the clothes smelled nice and fresh. I would say the detergent definitely works well. I washed everything from towels to shirts to jeans, and it seems to work fine and not harm any type of clothing.
I am satisfied that making your own detergent is a good way to save money. If you consider a normal sized bottle of laundry detergent that does 40 loads is $5.00 or higher, this is a great way to save money. Plus it is fun to do something out of the ordinary like this and feel good that you are saving money along the way.
Next time I may tweak the recipe a bit. I think I will add a full 2 bars of soap to give it a little more kick. Also, I read that baking soda will give clothes an extra fresh smell so I will probably add a box to the mix next time. Because I can reuse my bucket and already have the Borax and washing soda, my next batch will cost me less than $2.00 (2 bars of soap and a box of baking soda). This gets my vote for a great way to do some extreme saving and I will be making my own laundry detergent for the foreseeable future.
It never ceases to amaze me that you can find anything on the internet. I have always considered myself a frugal person but not an extremely frugal person. Then I read numerous stories on the internet on people who go to great lengths to slash their spending. I decided to embark on some of the suggestions and decided to make homemade laundry detergent.
If you search Google or Yahoo there are many recipes for homemade laundry detergent. The one I picked called for 2 cups of grated bar soap (I used plain Ivory), 2 cups of Borax, and 2 cups of washing soda. I also had to buy a 5 gallon bucket and lid (for storage). The soap was $.35 a bar (I used about 1.5 bars), the Borax was under $3.00 and the washing soda was around $3.00. The bucket and lid was about $4.00. My total investment was less than $12.00. Because the Borax and washing soda comes in a box, I should have enough for at least 2 more batches of homemade detergent.
It was simple enough to make, I just boiled the Ivory soap in water and then mixed it with the Borax and washing soda in the bucket. I then added 2 gallons of water. The recipe said to use ¼ cup of the mixture in each load so that means that each gallon should be enough for 48 loads of laundry. That’s 96 loads of laundry per batch.
The detergent seems to work fine. I did not do any special testing, but I did wash several shirts that were stained and the stains came out. Also, the clothes smelled nice and fresh. I would say the detergent definitely works well. I washed everything from towels to shirts to jeans, and it seems to work fine and not harm any type of clothing.
I am satisfied that making your own detergent is a good way to save money. If you consider a normal sized bottle of laundry detergent that does 40 loads is $5.00 or higher, this is a great way to save money. Plus it is fun to do something out of the ordinary like this and feel good that you are saving money along the way.
Next time I may tweak the recipe a bit. I think I will add a full 2 bars of soap to give it a little more kick. Also, I read that baking soda will give clothes an extra fresh smell so I will probably add a box to the mix next time. Because I can reuse my bucket and already have the Borax and washing soda, my next batch will cost me less than $2.00 (2 bars of soap and a box of baking soda). This gets my vote for a great way to do some extreme saving and I will be making my own laundry detergent for the foreseeable future.