Laundry Detergent Recipe

I am still very pleased with my home-made soap/detergent. A number of you have asked for this recipe. This is the liquid/gel version.
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I purchased these ingredients at a large, farm/ranchy kind of grocery store. My local grocery stores in my small town did not carry the Fels Naptha.

Liquid Laundry Detergent

3 pints of water
1/3 bar Fels Naptha Laundry Bar Soap, grated
½ Cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
½ Cup 20 Mule Team Borax
1 quart hot water
2-gallon bucket

- Mix grated soap in a large saucepan with 3 pints hot water, and heat on stove over low heat until dissolved. Do not allow to boil.
-Stir in Super Washing soda and 20 Mule Team Borax. Stir until thickened.
- Remove from Heat.
- Add 1 quart hot water to a 2-gallon bucket
- Add soap mixture and mix well
- Fill bucket with more hot water, leaving a few inches at the top, and mix well.
- Set aside for 24 hours, or until mixture thickens.

Use ½ Cup of mixture per load.
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I poured mine (need a funnel because it's thickening, while it was still warm) into plastic milk jugs, but it thickened more and wouldn’t pour out, so I cut the top off the jug, and I leave the ½ cup measuring cup sitting on top of the jelled mixture.

There is a DRY recipe out there someplace -- you can do a Search.

The ingredients cost about $10.00, but this batch only uses a small portion of that original purchase. So far, I have no reason to buy anything else – I’m very pleased with this home-made product, and now refuse to purchase the regular Tide, or equivalent. I’m guessing this $10.00 will make well over 2-300 loads.

I have a water softener for my laundry. I don’t know how hard water may affect the effectiveness of this soap.

Thanks Sue!!!