Homemade Laundry Detergent

Dear Emily,

I know you have been waiting since yesterday to see what I made with all this.

Ta da! Laundry detergent.

Am I nuts or what??

Paul came in when I was mixing it all together and asked if it was really cheaper. I haven't done the math and I am not sure how to but everywhere I read about it said it is cheaper. Yes, I do know how to add the cost of each ingredient but what to divide it by? I have no idea how many washes I will get, short of measuring it all and that would take FOREVER.



I said I was using a recipe that has been all over blogs and Pinterest lately. I first saw it posted on Kim's blog, Savvy Southern Style. Her husband thought she was crazy when he caught her grating bars of Fels-Naptha into a dirty old bucket. It looked like grated cheese. Since I have better things to do with my time than grate bars of soap, by hand, I used my food processor. (Gosh. I hope all the toxic stuff comes out and I haven't ruined my Cuisinart!)

Not cheese but this:

Back to the recipe...Kim had gotten her recipe from Stone Gable's blog. Whew! Sometimes I feel like Alice following a rabbit into a hole when I look for the original source of something on a blog. I followed the instructions exactly except I used Purex Crystals (cheaper) instead of Downy Un Stopables prettier). I mixed it all in a heavy duty garbage bag and was glad I did. All those powders are heavy. I got almost all of it into an empty Utz Cheeseball container. (Ask Gabe what happened to them. I am never going to buy them again, at least not in that quantity and then only on special occasions though I am not sure what special occasion calls for cheeseballs. I had to argue with a two year old that he couldn't have them for breakfast every day until they were gone.) What didn't fit into the container, I put in jars for you and a couple other lucky people who get to test the detergent out. Aren't all ya'll lucky?

I did one wash with it so far, some not so white whites and one of Caroline's bunnies. I have yet to see the results but did take the bunny out of the dryer early for Caroline. She complained about the smell. I think it smells way better than before it was washed. I pointed that out and reminded her that she helped pick out the Purex Crystals scent that is making the bunny "smell." Apparently she likes it to smell like, never mind. I don't know what you call that smell. I saved the scoop from the Oxyclean to use to measure and will be figuring out the amount to use in the next few loads. I have seen many comments other places about how much to use. I used about 2 tablespoons. Not sure if that was enough.

I'll give you your jar of it when I see you in August and you will have to let me know what you think. And if it makes everyone itch. (That is what I am worried about. What will I do with a huge cheeseball container of laundry detergent?)

Love,
Monica