Simple Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe!

So I am guilty of buying the ready to go detergent brands like Tide, Purex, and All. I've been wanting to make my own homemade laundry detergent for almost a year now but was afraid it was too difficult to do. After talking with a daughter of mine who also decided to make some and gave me a sample of what she made, I was determined to at least try it. I went to Walmart all bought all my

I have found several recipes and so I am now going to be trying them.

 Ingredients:

Here’s the supplies I used and how much they cost at my Walmart:
1-5 Gallon Buckets $2.97
1-5 Gallon Bucket top $1.17
1-Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda $3.24
1-Borax $3.38
1-Oxy Clean or Bix booster@ 6.97-12.97 a box
1-Downy Unstoppables $6.97 or 1.2-1 ounce of pure essential oils of your choice, (I like a fresh clean or flowery citrus scent in ours but I change it with the seasons.)
1-Fels Naptha Laundry Soap $0.97

Now you can substitute other laundry soap or even use Ivory Bar Soap. You also don’t have to use the Downy Unstoppables and can add a few drops of your favorite essential oil. My daughter made hers with essential oils but with this batch I decided to use the Downy crystals.

You will need:
1 bar of Fels Naptha Laundry Soap (or Ivory or other laundry soap)
1 cup Borax
1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing
1/2 cup baking soda(works as a water softener and booster)
1/2 cup BIZ or Oxy Clean if you want to add it, or Just use a scoop with this soap when you do laundry, if you have really sensitive skin you might want to omit.
Grater
Sauce Pan
Hand held electric mixer/blender (optional)

Step 1: Cut Fels Naptha Soap into pieces. Take each piece and grate it into a small bowl.

Step 2: Pour 6 cups of hot water and the grated Fels Naptha Soap into a pot. Do NOT let it boil.
Step 3: Once the soap is melted add your Borax and Super Washing Soda to the pan. Stir until it’s all dissolved, then remove from heat.

When I mixed my melted Soap on the Stove top I used a hand mixer shown here

Step 4: Pour 4 Cups of Hot Water into your bucket and then add your mixture from your pan to the bucket. Stir together. This is when you will add your essential oil or for my own example the Downy Unstoppables.
Step 5: Now add a gallon of hot water (16 cups) and stir. Then add enough of hot water to fill the 5 gallon bucket and stir again, using a handle of your broom or your arm with long cleaning gloves if you are sensitive.
Step 6: Let sit overnight. In the morning when you open the bucket don’t freak out if it looks bad, it’s suppose to and will vary based on your location, weather, climate etc.
Use 1/2 cup per load of laundry!

Here is a container you can use for most laundry detergent, the leftover I keep in the bucket. I have one of these in my kitchen fridge for water but it may get a new use come this fall.

Or you can just save your old soap container you have now and as soon as it is empty refill it with your new soap. I did ;)
Then Label it and use as needed. This cleans really well I get stains out even in cold water.
For really deep set stains I make  stain remover too.