Sunday, May 20, 2012

Home made Laundry Detergent



Way back in October, I made my own laundry detergent.  It cost me about $20 to buy all of the ingredients and it has lasted seven months.  I do approximately 6-10 full loads of laundry a week.  And I haven't run out yet... I still have about two months worth of detergent left.

I used this recipe found on the blog Being Creative.  It uses five ingredients, all of which you can find at Walmart.  We mixed all the ingredients together in a 5 gallon bucket that was lined with a garbage bag (that way the bucket doesn't have to be super clean).  Took about 15 minutes total.

$20 and 15 minutes of work = months and months of laundry detergent.  That's a winner in my book!  It doesn't get "sudsy", so don't think it's not working just because there are not a lot of suds!  This also makes it good to use in HE washers.

Another laundry trick of mine.... Instead of using liquid fabric softener during the rinse cycle, I use vinegar.  I put in about a 1/2 cup of vinegar during the final rinse.  It's cheaper, it's easier on the washing machine, and it's more environmentally friendly than standard fabric softener.  And before you ask, no, the clothes do not come out of the machine smelling like vinegar.  Read more vinegar tips and tricks here!




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