I found a website describing to to make your own laundry soap, and since RM and I were running low, I decided to try it. All of the ingredients together cost almost the same as a 150 oz. container of pre-made detergent would, and will make a Lot more batches. I followed the basic recipe showed here, but since I had a 10 quart stock pot I used it instead of a smaller pot and a bucket. Here's how I made mine, and the cost breakdown:
The bulk ingredients:
20 Mule Team Borax, 76 oz. box - $12.82
Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, 55 oz box - $9.79
Ivory soap, 16 bar pack - $7.99
Water, 2 gallons - practically free
The Process:
Grate one bar of Ivory soap and add it to stock pot.
Add 10 cups water, turn on medium heat, stirring occasionally until soap melts.
Add 1/2 cup (about 5 oz) washing soda and 1/2 cup (about 3 oz) borax powder, stir until dissolved.
Remove from heat.
Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups water, stir well.
Let sit 24 hours.*
Mix Really well before funneling into permanent container (an electric hand mixer works great for this part, and I'm re-using old laundry detergent jugs)
*If you don't have an electric hand mixer/blender, I Really recommend stirring vigorously every few hours. It took me between 10 and 15 minutes with my electric hand mixer to get everything well blended after I let the detergent sit for 24 hours, because it solidified on top but was liquid at the bottom of the pot. This would be a real pain in the butt with just a whisk or even an egg beater.
Use 1/2-1 cup per load.
Cost breakdown:
The Ivory soap came 16 bars to a pack, and 1 bar is used per batch, thus 1 batch's worth costs 50¢
The washing soda came in a 55 oz box, and each batch requires approx. 5 oz. thus there are 11 batches worth in each box, with each batch's worth costing 89¢
The borax came in a 76 oz box, each batch requires approx 3 oz, thus there are 25.3 batches per box, with each batch's worth costing 50¢
Thus, the grand total cost for one batch of detergent: $1.90 for 32-64 loads worth of detergent!
That's right, this recipe makes 2 gallons of detergent, and you only use 1/2 cup per load, thus you get 64 loads of laundry from one batch!
The results:
Ok, so the website I got this recipe from recommended using 1/2 cup of the detergent per regular size load. I used the suggested amount in my top loading HE washing machine, and was kinda disappointed in the results. So, I tried using a full cup, and then my clothes came out clean and smelling fresh and I was really pleased with the results. I'm not sure if I need the extra 1/2 cup because my washer is HE, or if it's because I used Ivory soap instead of Fels Naptha, or if the creator of the recipe just doesn't mind if their clothes still have stains on them and smell a little funky. Regardless, there's still a huge cost savings in this detergent. A 32 load jug of HE detergent at my local grocery store runs anywhere from $6-9, so I'm saving anywhere from $4-7 every 32 loads of laundry. I will keep using this recipe until I run out of the ingredients I've already purchased, but I may play around with ingredient quantities, and next time I'll buy Fels Naptha soap and see if it works any better.
Update 2/6/13:
After a few weeks of using this detergent, I've found that 3/4 cup seems to be the sweet spot, where it's enough to get my laundry clean without using more than necessary. I'll still be playing around with the recipe a bit, and will update if I figure out a ratio that I think works better.
Update 5/4/13:
I've noticed that as I get down to around 1/2 to 1/4 of a jug of detergent left, it starts getting thicker in consistency. What it gets thick enough that I notice this, I add 1/4 cup of water at a time and shake the jug well until it is thinned back out to the initial consistency it had when fresh made, and this seems to do the trick just fine without affecting its cleaning effectiveness.
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