Homemade Laundry Detergent

I've been wanting to try my hand at homemade laundry detergent for awhile.

There was a point a while back where I fell completely in love with the Duggar Family. Thank you Netflix instant streaming! In one of the episodes they make laundry detergent for their family and I thought, "well I could surely try that." 

Of course, I never got around to it. 

I kept pinning pins on pinterest of all these different recipes.

But I didn't want to make a huge batch. 

I had nowhere to store it and what if I didn't like it.

This past week for some reason it seems as if everyone is making their own laundry detergent. 

I keep finding tutorials everywhere.

Since I was almost out of detergent I decided that now was the time to do it. 

I came across this pin that had a smaller recipe amount than the ones I had previously seen.

You need four ingredients
1/2 cup Super Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 a bar of soap
1 gallon of water

Grate half a bar of soap into a large pot.
I used Dove, but I've heard any kind will work.

Add half a gallon of water and cook on medium until all the soap has dissolved.

Once all the soap has dissolved, add the borax and super washing soda and bring to a boil.

It will expand a lot and start to coagulate a bit.
Take off the heat and add the other half gallon of water.
Mix together.

I allowed mine to cool and coagulate a bit more before I poured it into the gallon jug.

Let sit for 24 hours before use.

Use 1/2 a cup in your laundry. It is extremly low sudsing, so don't worry.
It is also safe for HE washers, which is what I have.

I spent under $6 for all the materials and still have enough to make 3 more batches.
The two powders will last a really long time.

One thing I have heard is that it doesn't get out stains quite as well so make sure you're pre-treating.
It does however make your whites brighter.

No more crazy expensive containers of laundry detergent for me!

Linking up with Melissa, Sarah, and Amber