Homemade Laundry Detergent - HE Safe

     So in my midst to try to save money for my husband and I; I thought about trying homemade laundry detergent. I did a lot of research on Pinterest and Google. I found a recipe that would work for our HE washing machine. To my surprise our local Wal-Mart had almost everything that I was in search for. I had to use a different soap than the recipe called for, no big deal! I used the Fels-Naptha instead of the Zote it called for. When I was finished checking out it wound up being only $35 with everything, and that included a new grater; I'm not about to use my cheese grater on some soap! 

The ingredients are

1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Powder 

4lb box of Baking Soda

1 box Borax 

1 55oz Pyrex Crystals - any fragrance will do 

2 bars Fels-Naptha 14oz each or 2 bars zote

1 5 gallon bucket

The most time consuming thing was grating the soap. However, if you choose to use Zote; you can cut the bar of soap in slices and then microwave it for 1 minute. It will puff up like a marshmallow; when it cools it will harden. After it's hardened then you can just crumble it up in a bowl. 

After the soap is grated, gather all your other ingredients and mix them outside. I made the mistake of mixing all of this at my kitchen table...let me just say that was a huge no no! I had a cloud of dust all around me from all the powders. Anyways....what I did was mix a little of each thing layer by layer. That way by the end it was easier to mix up. 

After everything is mixed up you can put some in the empty Pyrex Crystal container like I did. For the leftovers I had a big Rubbermaid tote that help the rest. This product smells wonderful and makes a ton!!! I even had so much leftover that I gave some to the girls I work with. 

My next batch will be made with the pink Zote soap. 

I told my husband that I was trying to be thrifty and crafty and all he did was roll his eyes at me! Oh well!! Guess who doesn't have to buy the expensive Tide HE detergent anymore!! Or at least for now...

I have things to try homemade furniture polish, toilet cleaner, glass cleaner, and carpet powder!!