Frugal Friday - Homemade Laundry Detergent

Since I have been couponing and watching prices I have seen the prices of laundry detergent go up and up. I was able to get small bottles of laundry soap for about $2 or less matching sales and coupons, now I am not able to do this any more. So, I started looking for other options and found this recpie for homemade detergent. We have now been using it for about two and a half months and we are happy with the results.

You need:

2 C. shredded bar soap (I use Ivory)

1 C. Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

1 C. 20 Mule Team Borax

Mix it all together and store in air tight container. I like to use my food processor to shred the soap because it is quick and easy. Use 1-2 Tablespoons per load of wash. I use 1 tablespoon for most loads. I do also pretreat stains when needed, but other wise this detergent seems to do as well as the store bought detergent I used to use.

The cost breakdown:

Bar soap - I picked it up free at Walgreens

Super Washing Soda $4.20, so for 1 C the price is about $.60

Borax - I paid $4.40, so for 1 C the price is about $.50

Total cost per batch of detergent is $1.10 and it lasts my family of three about 2 and a half months.

Check out more Frugal Friday ideas at Life As Mom.