Saving the dough

Almost a year ago I hit on a big way to save money for my family. A friend started making her own laundry detergent and I decided to give it a try. We were spending $30 a month on detergent and now spend MAYBE $6 (yes, six, the number after five and before seven) a year. That’s a savings of $354 per year! This is the recipe I was given and I can’t say enough good things about it. Our clothes are just as clean and it works for people that have sensitive skin like the boys. I use it in our front load Samsung HE washer, whereas my mom uses it in her top load. It works equally well in both places as it doesn’t produce a foam. She likes it because it is unscented and it doesn’t aggravate her allergies like Tide, etc. The recipe is as follows along with information on where to find the items, because if you're like me, you've never heard of these items!

Laundry detergent recipe
4 cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar (found at about any grocery store in the detergent aisle)
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax

1. Grate bar of soap. Put hot tap water in saucepan and add grated soap. Stir continually over medium high heat until soap melts.

2. Fill 5 gallon bucket 1/2 full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, borax and washing soda. Stir until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with hot tap water. Cover and let set overnight to thicken. Mixture will gel.

3. Stir mixture and fill a used, clean laundry soap dispenser 1/2 full with soap. Fill the rest of the way with water. Shake before each use.

Yield--- 10 gallons liquid soap

Top load Machines- 1/2 cup per load (approx. 320 loads)
Front load Machines- 1/4 cup per load (approx. 640 loads)

How to store
I put them in one-gallon old milk containers and also saved liquid laundry detergent dispensers. I then just refill them with the detergent in the milk jugs when I need to. 

Where to get your supplies
You can get the Borax and Arm & Hammer both in the laundry aisle. Borax is in a green and white box. the Arm & Hammer is in a yellow box. You'll use them both a few times and save a ton of money. The only thing you need to keep repurchasing each time you have to make a new batch is the Fels Naptha and that's only a couple of bucks.  If you  buy these products bundled on Amazon, you'll spend just under $20.  You'll also want to purchase the 5 gallon bucket from a place like Lowes and some sort of funnel.  I store everything inside the bucket when I'm not using it so I can find everything later.