Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

By AuntieLo

I wasn’t happy with the recipes for homemade laundry detergent I was finding so I played around a little with the measurements & made my own. I’ve been using this for several years & have converted many of my friends too. 5 gallons cost you less than $2, & you just can’t beat that.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of Borax
• 1 cup of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT baking soda!)
• 5.5 oz Fels Naptha soap (you can also use Zote or castile soap - about the same amount, you don't have to be exactly precise)
• water
• 5 gallon bucket with a lid
• essential oil for scent (optional)

Details

Servings 5
Adapted from mrshappyhomemaker.com

Preparation

Step 1

Instructions
Grate the Fels-Naptha soap. Add the soap shreds to a pot with 4 cups of hot water. Put the heat on medium-high, & stir until completely melted - about 10 minutes.
Fill up a 5 gallon bucket halfway with hot water (I like to use the shower for this, it's easier in my opinion). Pour in the melted soap mixture & give it a quick stir. Stir in the borax & washing soda. If your'e using essential oil, now is the time to add it. You add in ½oz to 1oz, depending on how scented you want it. Although, I never really measure it anymore - I just shake in enough drops to where I feel satisfied. Stir the contents again.
Fill up the bucket with warm water, all the way to the top - and stir again. If you don't have a utensil long enough to reach the bottom, just put on a pair of rubber dish gloves beforehand.
Snap on the lid, & let it sit for 24 hours to gel up. It will have the consistency of egg noodle soup - watery with glops of gel.... This is what it should look like! If you would like a smoother consistency like the store-bought brands, you can use an immersion blender at this point to smooth it out. I don't bother with this step though personally - the 'glops' dissolve just fine in the wash - and having a smoother consistency has no effect on the cleaning power or finished product.
At this point, you can divide it up between different containers like empty laundry detergent containers, cleaned out milk jugs, etc. I prefer to use 1-2 empty containers, and leave the rest in the bucket to save on space - refilling my containers as necessary.