In the last year I have been getting into making a lot of household products myself. Offbeat Home was the first to inspire me to do this, though I had already wanted to, but never had a quick and easy jump-start to it all.
So, I started with Offbeat Home's suggestion for laundry detergent. It really is super easy, super cheap, and wonderful. Plus it doesn't pollute the ground water like commercial detergents, and is better for your skin. Fels-Naptha no longer uses a horrible solvent it was once known for, and while Borax can be bad, it is better than what you find in your regular soaps. There are alternates such as vinegar and baking soda to these ingredients, but I have yet to try them. Below is my quick summary of what you will need:
Homemade Laundry Detergent
3-5 gallon bucket
bar of Fels-Naptha (you will only use 1/3 each time)
Borax
Washing Soda
I ordered everything through Amazon, but I later found that except for the Fels-Naptha, I could find the Borax and Washing Soda at my local HEB grocery store on the laundry aisle. The bucket can be found at Academy in the fishing aisle or probably at Target. It doesn't necessarily have to have a lid, but I suggest it does, so that the liquid in the soap doesn't evaporate over time, or bugs don't fly into it. You might also ask your local restaurants for their pickle buckets, which are the same things as what you buy at Academy or elsewhere. If you are just that strapped for cash, and know me personally, give me a call, my father owns a sandwich shop and has so many buckets he would love to give them to someone.
The first time I made this laundry soap I was concerned about the Fels-Naptha having a floral scent, as I hate floral scents. The smell is strong while you are making it, but once the soap is made, and you use this on your laundry, there is no smell at all. I've heard you can also add a few drops of essential oil to make your soap smell like anything you want, though lavender, tea tree, and citrus scents are suggested.
I was also a little bit perturbed by the gelatinous nature of the soup, but if you stir it up really well, it becomes a smooth water-gel type consistency. This too weirded me out at first, but I got used to it, and I haven't seen any residue on my clothing after washing, and I use about 1/2 cup per average size load. Average size means medium to full load in my mind, for a standard, non-front loading washer.
I must admit I thought my clothes smelled bad after the first time washing with homemade laundry soap, but that wasn't because they still smelled of sweat or dirt. It was because I was so used to the heavily perfumed Tide detergents that no smell seemed like a bad smell. This was silly of me in hindsight, but I grew up with Tide, and now I know better.
If you want to be environmentally friendly, and not poison our aquatic friends, but not make your own laundry detergent either, try Dr. Bronner's Sal Sads Soap, which can not only be used with laundry, but pretty much everything else, including carpet. They are an incredible company all around, and I cannot recommend their peppermint bar soap more.
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