Greetings Homesteading Enthusiast! As I continue on my journey towards self sustainability and frugal living I found myself cringing each time I would go to the store to buy laundry soap. It is so expensive - for the "good stuff"! I have been making my own soaps now for about two years so I figured I should be able to make my own laundry soap/detergents too. So, I set out to doing some research and found what I feel is a pretty good - economical way of creating my own laundry washing powder (someday I will attempt liquid washing soap too). The next time I make this it will be even more economical as I will use my own bar of castile soap to make it with too (I just don't happen to have any one hand at the moment).
So, to Walmart I went to get the items below:
cost breakdown (I rounded up to the nearest whole dollar): Zote (14.1oz bar): $1, 3 Pound Bag Baking Soda: $4, Washing Soda: $4, Borax: $4, Purex Softeners: $3, Oxie Clean: $7. all equaling under $26.00. I should also note the recipe I used does not use all of the products listed. I still have Borax, Washing Soda and Baking Soda left over for use again.
The first step is to grate the Zote Soap. I did this by hand as I did not want to get soap in my food processor. Word of caution if you are going to be doing this by hand. WEAR GLOVES! the cheese grater can be unforgiving.
I like grating my soap in small little granule type bits. If you use the larger side of the grater I found it does not dissolve as well in the wash. But, do what works best for you I say. The recipe I used nearly filled the 1 gallon jar pictured below and will last me roughly 4 to 6 months depending on what sort of adventures we get ourselves into around the homestead. If I had used all the ingredients at once and doubled my recipe the batch should last me a full year.
Next, I added 3 cups each of the Borax, Washing Soda, Baking Soda and Oxie Clean to a large tote and mixed it well to break up any clumps and to incorporate the mixture well. Next, I added in the Purex crystals and the grated soap.
As you can see I got a little board of the grating and also used the larger side. I went back through and reduced the size of some of the larger chunks manually. I think I will be checking out the local thrift shops to see if I can find a cheap food processor for my homemade cleaning products. I think it will be well worth the investment.
Now all that is left to do is store the powder the contents in an airtight container
and to use for washing
I have found that you don't need to use a ton of this washing powder. The cap on the Purex crystals works very well for a measuring device. I also suggest that you start the water first with the washing powder before adding your cloths to get it partially dissolved.
all the research I have done and the ingredients on the boxes all say this powder is HE safe. I don't have an HE washer...so its not that important for me. I say, do your own research and make the best decision for your family and your washing machine.
All in all I am happy with the results so far. My cloths are clean and have a very fresh smell.
Happy Homesteading my friends :)