Sue's Homemade Laundry Detergent

"I was given this recipe by a customer where I work. This is very easy to make and you'll love the cost. Broken down (approximately) $7.86 Arm and Hammer Detergent(7.94 lbs), $4.19 20 Mule team borax(76 oz), .72 bar of Ivory, $1.19 bar of Fels. The cost of a bucket of soap is approximately $1.84!!! Also it smells great. Hint- putting soap in freezer for about an hour makes it much easier to grate."
 
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Ready In:
40mins
Ingredients:
9
Yields:
15 about 15 5 gallon buckets
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ingredients

  • arm and hammer laundry detergent (7.94 lbs)
  • 20 mule team borax (76 oz)
  • soap bar (1 Ivory 4.5 oz bar)
  • soap bar (1 Fels Naptha 5 1/2 oz bar)
  • 1 soap bar (Ivory, grated)
  • 1 soap bar (Fels Naptha, grated)
  • 236.59 ml laundry detergent (use Arm and Hammer)
  • 236.59 ml borax (use 20-Mule Team)
  • 946.36 ml boiling water
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directions

  • The first 4 ingredients are what you need to buy. The next 5 are to make the actual recipe.
  • Dissolve soaps and detergent in 5 gallon bucket with 4 cups of boiling water.( I used the paint stirrer and drill for this the 2nd time I made it, it dissolved the ingredients much better than by hand).
  • Once dissolved add another 4 cups of very hot water.
  • Stir well and add enough water to fill 5 gallon bucket to the top.
  • Let sit overnight. Soap will gel up and you will need to stir completely with your hand or use a paint stirrer on the end of a drill. You can fill empty laundry bottles or keep in bucket with a cover.
  • 1 - 5 gallon bucket will make about 80 loads of detergent.
  • ( A little extra math- 1 box of Arm and Hammer, 2 boxes of 20-Mule Team, 15 bars of Ivory and 8 bars of Fels will make about 1200 loads of laundry for about $35.96).
  • Also I bought an inexpensive grater just for the soap. It was suggested to use a food processor but I didn't like doing that.

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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p><img title=Cool src=/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-cool.gif border=0 alt=Cool /></p> <p><span style=color: #993366;>I live in the country near a small town</span>. <span style=color: #993366;>My husband is the love of my life. He's a good sport with my recipe experiments. Most of the time he likes what I make. I can always tell 'cause if he doesn't like it he won't go for seconds which he almost always does.</span></p> <p><span style=color: #993366;>I have 2 stepsons that are all grown up. One is in college &amp; the other is in the Army. I'm very proud of both of them. I love to bake but don't do it much anymore since there's only 2 of us.</span></p> <p><span style=color: #993366;>I'm trying to cook a little more healthy. That can really be a challenge. I love the recipes on this site. So many ideas! The one thing I really don't like to do though is use low or no fat stuff. Most of it is just yucky!!<br /></span></p>
 
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