homemade laundry detergent

Today is laundry day again. When the kids were all at home I did 2-4 loads a day. Today it is tablecloths from the 200+ guests at the dinner I helped serve over the weekend. A few months ago our septic system started acting up and we decided we needed to cut our water usage--especially with our daughter and her family coming for an extended stay. With 11 people in the house that is a lot of laundry, showers and flushing--SO--my husband bought me a new washer that uses much less water. We are enjoying the new washer and find ourselves watching the machine do it's work with amazement.

I was concerned about the need to purchase expensive HE detergent for the new machine, however, while researching for my new washer and dryer I found a number of recipes for making your own detergent. They all called for ingredients I was familiar with (as a bonus they were a fraction of the cost of commercial detergent) so I thought I would give it a try. I have been using the homemade detergent for about 3 months now and I think my whites are whiter. The clothes are clean and smell wonderful. A years supply of the new detergent costs the same as a months supply of what I used to use. You, too, might want to make the switch.

Homemade Laundry Detergent
2 bars natural soap *
3 cups washing soda**
3 cups borax***
Finely grate the soap. Mix with washing soda and borax. Store in airtight container. For normal loads use 1 tablespoon. For extra large loads or heavily soiled loads use 2 tablespoons. For whites add oxyclean and an extra rinse.

*The best soap to use is Fels Naptha, Zote, Sunlight or Ivory. Fels Naptha comes highly recommended but I could not find it locally so I used Ivory.

**washing soda is different than baking soda. It is made by Arm and Hammer. Find it in the laundry aisle. I found it at Kroger.

***Borax is found in the laundry aisle and is made by 20 Mule Team.

To really make your whites clean try hanging them out to dry. You will not believe how white they can get or how good they smell!!