Well the first batch of homemade laundry powder lasted us just about two weeks. Like I said, I do a lot of laundry in this house. Yesterday we were just about out, so I decided it was time to make one more batch. This time I changed the recipe a bit, and tried a friend’s suggestion too.

I started off by microwaving the laundry soap. I placed the soap on a paper plate, and started it off for a minute. Then I let it go a minute more. I let the soap rest before I started grating it.

The microwaved soap grated well, but holy moly my kitchen was fragrant. I aired out the microwave during the night, and it is still soap scented this morning. The microwaved soap is a bit warm too, so be careful. Also if you have a few bits that didn’t microwave well the first time, just pop them back in the microwave for a few more seconds.

This batch I used one bar of grated laundry soap, one cup of baking soda, one cup of borax, and one cup of super washing powder. I mixed it all together, and stored it in a plastic container.

The consistency was just right. I washed two loads of laundry in the new scent, and I really liked it. The savings are great too. I’m making laundry detergent for around $2.00 a month instead of spending $10.00. Not too bad in the savings department.

When we were going through the budget, I was running through my mind on just what we could cut from the weekly grocery bill. I couldn’t think of where to start, but then I looked at the giant pile of laundry waiting for me. It made me think that laundry detergent would be a start. I’ve seen lots of recipes to make it at home, so let’s give it a try.

I do a lot of laundry. Most days three loads at least. If I wait a day or two I have ten loads of laundry waiting for me. I seem to buy laundry detergent at least once or twice a month. If I can find the brand that I like, it is usually on sale for $5.00. So that is at least $10.00 a month that is just going to laundry.

I looked up a few different recipes for homemade laundry powder on Pinterest. I then headed to amazon to shop prices. They were a bit much, but then I read through all of the comments. They all seemed to say the same thing,  check your local store first, you should be able to pick up everything for around $10.00. We were heading to the grocery store on Monday, so I added the supplies to my list, and scratched off the ready-made laundry detergent.

I found everything on my list to make the detergent, and I picked up a grater to be used for soap only, and a set of measuring spoons and cups to use for detergent only too. The grand total was just $12.68, just a few bucks more than I usually spend in a month for detergent.

I set up everything in the utility room, and I got to grating. I decided to make a batch using the Pink Zote soap first. It did take a while to grate the soap, and my flakes were not as teeny-tiny as I had seen in the pictures on Pinterest. A friend of mine suggested to microwave the soap for one to two minutes, let it rest, and then it should flake nicely. I’m going to try that on the next batch.

The recipe that I used called for one cup of Borax, one cup of Arm & Hammer washing powder, and one bar of laundry soap, grated. I combined all of the of the ingredients in an old plastic ice cream container, and gave it a good shake. You use one to two tablespoons of the laundry powder per load.

I washed three loads of laundry with the new laundry powder, and it worked very well. The scent was pleasant after going through the dryer, and the clothes were soft too. Here’s hoping that none of us are allergic to it…  I missed one very ice cream stained shirt of Agnes’, so that one didn’t get cleaned too well, but a little pre-treater should do the trick.

The cost and the time spent were well worth it too. I’ll be making the detergent again, and enjoying a bit of grocery savings too. The only downside was when I grated my finger. I’m a bit accident prone when it comes to graters, and veggie peelers, but that won’t keep me from grating laundry soap.

I have no idea how long the first batch will last our family. If I keep up with making laundry detergent at home it should save us around $100 off of our yearly grocery budget. I think I’m off to a good start.

What about you? Do you make laundry detergent at home? How do you save when it comes to this daily chore?