Homemade Laundry Detergent - PERFECTED!

Finally - after a ton of research and a little bit of trial and error (emphasis on the ERROR) my quest for the perfect homemade laundry detergent is successful!

I've borrowed the basic DIY recipe that you will find on many blogs all over the interwebs, and tweaked it a little so it smells better and is a little more user friendly. It's still very low-cost and easy to do.

Here's what you need:

- 1 gallon jug or bucket (I used an old vinegar jug)
-  1 small bottle (8 oz I think) of Dr. Bronner's castile soap in your favorite scent
- 20 mule team borax
- washing soda
- essential oils (if you want to add scent)
- water
- a large pot
-  1/2 C measuring cup
- *A funnel is helpful but not completely necessary

NOTE: if you use my recipe please don't skip any steps! Skipping steps will demonstrate to you some of the "error" I mentioned earlier. Trust me.

Start with putting 12 cups of water in your large pot and putting it on low heat. (LOW is the key word here. You don't need to boil the water). Add about 1/4 of your Dr. Bronner's bottle to the water. This is also a good time to add your essential oils. (I used lavender DB's and dropped some lemon oil in - it smells lovely and clean.) Now use your 1/2 C measuring cup to add one HEAPING scoop of borax and one HEAPING scoop of washing soda. Stir this mixture and continue heating on low until all the powder is mixed in. Turn the heat off and let the mixture cool for a few minutes. If you've got a funnel stick it in your gallon jug and pour your lovely laundry detergent in.After this sits for a day or two it may "gel" a bit, but not much. Just give it a little shake before you use it.

I've been using this stuff for about a week now and I'm really happy with it. It gets our clothes nice and clean - from baby clothes, to delicates, to my husband's dirty work clothes! For small loads I use about 1/4 C, for large or especially dirty loads I use 1/2 C. It leaves the clothes with a barely-there fresh scent, which is exactly what I wanted. I do still use a stain spray for the tough stuff like engine grease and baby poop!

The cost of all ingredients is about $12 but they will make several batches of detergent. They're also useful in many other ways. Stay tuned for more ways to use them and have a "green" clean house!