Homemade Laundry Detergent

1 cup grated ivory soap (the pokey side of the grater works best to make a powder)

1 cup Borax

1 cup baking soda

This recipe can be used in both HE and top loading washers.

Use approximately 2 tablespoons per full load.

If you find that your darks are coming out with white soap spots on them then use a measuring cup and hot water to create a liquid detergent before adding it to the wash. There is no need to wash in hot water.

If this problem persists you may want to melt your soap ahead of time and store it as liquid laundry soap instead. It will thicken into a gel like substance and must be stirred or shaken. Then add 2 tablespoons of the gel to your wash loads.

For cloth diapers I personally dump my diapers into the washer (top load) with this mixture and hot water to soak overnight. Come morning I run the spin cycle and the rinse. Then I add my 2 tablespoons of detergent and wash as normal.

*If your diapers come out hard or have an odor soak overnight in hot water with ¼ cup of vinegar, then spin and rinse and add detergent as normal, the baking soda in the detergent will return your diapers to the proper PH balance for your baby’s delicate skin.

Many people use a recipe similar to this but replace the baking soda with washing soda. However, the washing soda can be rather caustic and damaging to clothing, it can also cause rashes if not rinsed completely because it does not have a PH balance that is as close to our body’s PH like baking soda.

Another trick to saving money is to always use a rag instead of paper towel for your basic cleaning. My rags include dishtowels, washcloths, and old t-shirts. When done, rinse thoroughly and place your rags in their own bin or pail beside or on top of the washer. When it is full wash your load of rags using my laundry detergent recipe.