Laundry Detergent Switching to the DIY Brand

Everyone has their pet-peeve item that they hate spending money on for whatever reason. For me I hate spending money on cleaners and detergents. I would much rather spend it on ice cream and wine to be honest. Not only do I hate to spend money on laundry detergent, but for the most part everything I have read reveals that many of them are full of a soupy mix of several chemicals I can't pronounce.

So we switched to DIY Levesque Brand Detergent sans chemicals. One load’s worth of "Do It Yourself" detergent costs about a penny compared to around fifty cents with store-bought detergent. And I haven't tried this yet but you can customize the scent with essential oils. The best part is that it only takes 10 minutes to make gallons of laundry detergent, which lasts quite a while.

Liquid Detergent
1 quart water (boiling)
2 cups bar soap (grated, I use Sunlight)
2 cups Borax
2 cups washing soda (look for it in the laundry detergent aisle at your local department store – it comes in an Arm & Hammer box)
5 gallon bucket with a lid

1. Add finely grated bar (I grate with parmesan grater) soap to the boiling water and stir until soap is melted. Use low heat until soap is melted.
2. Pour the soap water into a large pail/bottle and add the borax and washing soda. Stir well until all is dissolved.
3. Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed. (1 gallon = 16 cups or 3.8 litres)
4. Cover pail and use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry. Once it's cool, add 5 - 7 drops of your favourite essential oil per gallon. Stir or shake the soap each time you use it (it will gel). I use an old 5 litre laundry detergent bottle instead of a pail.

No more lugging huge jugs of laundry detergent home from grocery store, the clothes covering our skin is natural and chemical free and beneficial for sensitive skin, it promotes better indoor air quality and the grey water leaving the house entering the community is less toxic.

Tip: The first time you make it try a smaller batch and half or 1/4 the recipe. Especially if you have a smaller laundry container (standard 2.95 litre) try using 1/4th the recipe. For more whiting power add 1/2 cup of baking soda to your wash.

Cost Savings: $255 per year
                       DIY Brand: 520 loads per year * 1¢ = $5.20
                       Store Brand: 520 loads per year * 50¢ = $260

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