Wednesday, April 24, 2013

DIY: Homemade Stain Fighting Laundry Detergent


Today I'm showing you how I'm saving approximately $38.00 a year in homemade laundry detergent.  If something is easy enough for me to do by myself, saves me a little bit of money and saves on the environment (reusing a storage container rather than purchasing containers every time) then I'm all for it. 
About six months ago I made a liquid laundry detergent that I found through Pinterest.  It worked great but there was a few things that I wasn't happy about.  First when you make the concentrate you need milk containers to mix it with water, I either had to save all of our milk containers or ask neighbors to save theirs for me.  Second, adding the water to each wasn't a fun or easy task.  Third, you need storage room for about 10-12 milk containers when you're finished but the worst part was that with time the containers started leaking the liquid all over my laundry room!  It was then that I decided to give the powder detergent a try.  
I've scoured the internet and Pinterest for recipes.  We have allergies and asthma in our family and we've never been big fans of real strong scented detergents.  I also wanted to be sure that the detergent would be safe for our HE machine.  I read in our machine manual that you could add powder just the same as liquid detergent.  
Another important aspect was stain fighting power!  The liquid detergent I made before worked well but there were stains that required a shot of Oxyclean stain remover.  That's why I've added the Oxiclean powder to the recipe.  So here's how you make it:
Start by grating two bars of Fels-Naptha soap.  
{You can find all of these items in your local grocery store's cleaning/laundry aisles}
I used a fine grater rather than a normal sized shredder.  After shredding the soap you simply mix all of the ingredients together.  I used a 5 gallon bucket to mix, adding small amounts of each at a time, layering the ingredients to make mixing it easier.  
I bought a Rubbermaid storage container from Target to store the powder.  You'll need an airtight container for best results.  
I used to buy a large container of Tide at Sam's Club.  The Tide was costing us 21¢ a load and this homemade version is only 12¢ a load.  Less waste and saving money...yes please!
Tell me, do you make any homemade cleaners?  How else does your family save money?
See where I link up HERE.

6 comments :

  1. I'm so trying this when I run out of the store bought stuff I have. I love that yours is a powder and not a 5 gallon bucket of goo. I'm stopping by from Clean and Scentsible.

    Angela
    <a href="http://angsays.wordpress.com>Angela Says: Tips for a Cleaner Home</a>

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    1. Angela, Go for it, let me know what you think! Yeah I really didn't like that messy liquid detergent sitting around either :) Thanks for stopping by :)

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  2. I just tried a liquid home-made laundry detergent and it's not working so well. It's so messy and doesn't clean well. I think I'll try your recipe next. Thanks for sharing it!

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    1. Elise, The liquid was very messy, hope you like this recipe! Let me know how you do :)

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  3. I don't think we could do this because powdery detergents always make my boys break out. We save money by not having cable TV, we do have a house phone but no long distance (we just use our cell phones...which is our one splurge), shopping at thrift shops/garage sales, and comparison shop. I mostly get all my groceries/household supplies at Sams, Walmart, & Aldi.

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    Replies
    1. Have you tried homemade as opposed to store bought powders Diana? Just curious :) We don't have a home phone at all. I've heard of Aldi's but never been to one. Is it like Sams or Costco?

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