Homemade Laundry Detergent

I use the Dugger Family Recipe for my laundry detergent and love it!

Here it is....

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar (.45 cents)
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda* ($2.99-makes at least 6-7 batches)
½ Cup Borax ($4.29-makes 20 batches

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

If you have none of the ingredients and are starting from scratch it will cost you about $8 to get started. The first batch makes 10 gallons of detergent. Take a second and figure out how much ten gallons of your favorite laundry detergent would cost...I love Gain, a gallon of Gain cost me about $5 at Walmart, when it's on sale. So...the same amount of Gain would cost me at least $50. That doesn't even include the fact that once you buy the arm and hammer and borax, it is several batches before you have to buy more.

I've read that basically it is 10 times cheaper to make your own...nice!