{Homemade (liquid) Laundry Detergent}

As some of you may already know, William & I try to be as frugal as possible in many areas. But not only frugal, we like it to be for a reason too. For example, I have made all of our household cleaners since the day we got married because, one, its cheap, & two, I think we feel better not having the harsh chemicals in our home. {& they work just as well, if not better, than store bought cleaners} I think i will begin sharing a few recipes every now & then on natural home care, if you are at all interested :) It is a part of our lives that we have just gotten used to & love! I will share today, the home care product i just finished making a new batch of yesterday: Laundry detergent. Sounds weird, but we love it! It cleans just as well as the stuff we used to use! Here is the recipe & instructions:

{You will need Washing soda, Borax & Fels.Naptha soap}

Walmart has all three ingredients. Make sure you get WASHING soda & not BAKING soda.

{Cut 1/3 of the felsnaptha soap off the bar}

{Now grate the 1/3 of bar soap. You can use a cheese grater, or be lazy like me, & use your cuisinart with the grater attatchment.}

{& voila! Grated soap that looks like shredded cheese, yum!  not}

{Now pour your grated soap into a pot with 6 Cups of water. Keep the mixture over the heat until the soap shreds melt completely}

{While the water & soap are heating, Portion out 1/2 C each washing soda & Borax}

{Once soap shreds are melted, pour in the portioned out washing soda & Borax}

{Stir all ingredients very well!! You want to make sure all ingredients are dissolved}

{Once the mixture is completely ready, Remove mixture from heat. Pour 4 C of hot water into a 5 gallon container. Then, pour your hot soapy mixture into the container as well. Mix. Then add 1 gallon & 6 cups of water to the mixture.}

** We also added about 30 drops of sweet orange essential oil at this point. You do not have to add any sort of smell if you dont want to though.

{Cover mixture & Let sit for 24 hours before using it. After 24 hours, open up the container. If the consistency of your laundry detergent looks like a bunch of mutilated jelly fish... you did it right! (that's what i think it looks like haha) }

{Store some of your detergent into easy to carry containers for every day use. I like to use these Lemonade bottles. Just because they're cute} 

{& there you go! Use about 1/4 C - 1/2 C per load, depending on soil level}

{Store the remainder of your detergent in a nice cool place. We store it under the laundry folding table in our laundry room.}

{Enjoy!}