Monday, November 9, 2009

this was so easy!

Making my own liquid laundry detergent is way simpler to do than I thought it sounded! I had bought all the ingredients necessary over the past couple weeks so that when I used the last of my store-bought detergent I would be prepared. I thought this would take a long time to make-that it would be a huge process! But, I was so pleasantly surprised when it took probably 10 minutes to put all of it together. Here are the ingredients that are required: 20 Mule Team Borax
Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
Fels-Naptha Soap
Patchouli oil(not required, but adds scent)
The Borax I bought at Target in the laundry detergent department. The Washing Soda and Fels-Naptha Soap I found at the grocery store, also in the laundry aisle. The Patchouli oil I bought in the candle and air freshener aisle.

The first thing I did was grate the soap.
Next, I melted the grated soap in a pot of hot water.



Then, after the soap was melted I added the borax and washing soda to the pot and waited for it to dissolve. After it's all dissolved I poured the soap into a small trash can with some more water.


The original recipe I followed said to use a large bucket but it was easier for me to just buy a new trash can for the detergent.

After I poured it all together I added the patchouli oil and stirred it some more. Now, all I do is wait until tomorrow for it to be ready to use. Liquid laundry detergent takes 24 hours after it's been "brewed" to gel. Tomorrow I'll let you all know how it turns out.
This is the recipe I followed for anyone who may be curious.




2 comments:

4monkeys said...

Sweet! Next is the dishwashing detergent!

Laurie said...

Sweet! How much did that mix cost?