Homemade Laundry Detergent

I have been waiting to run out of detergent for just this occasion. I am really trying to make my life a certain way, and I wanted to start focusing on simplification and budgeting.

This was simple...ONCE I HAD INGREDIENTS! Some of the products are not so simple to find in our area...but hopefully I can help you locate.

Here are the ingredients:


there are all sorts of recipes out there, and you could really omit the baking soda and the oxyclean. Omit the oxyclean and you will definitely be more "Green"...but I wanted the best possible results and likes the idea of its "whitening power".
I used equal parts:

3 bars of zote soap
3 cups baking soda
3 cups washing soda
3 cups borax
3 cups oxyclean

I also used essential tea tree oil:


Now...a quickie on where to find ingredients. I found zote soap at SavMor in Greenville. I have heard that Home Depot has it too...The cheapest online seemed to be Walgreens.com
amazon charged too much for shipping, so unless you pay for Amazonprime...it is not really the best deal. Same goes for the washing soda. Amazon charges about $11 shipping...which is RIDICULOUS! I ordered it from drugstore.com which only charged $4 for shipping. I have since heard that Publix carries it.

The other ingredients can be found anywhere.

You grate the Zote soap up like cheese...see:


It smells great. (Of note: I have also seen Zote soap is a great use for catching catfish).

Then you mix all the ingredients and put a bunch of drops of essential oil of your choice and put up in a sealed container. Mine looks a little shallow...but if I had had more baking soda, I would have really gone for 8 cups of each. You only need 1 oz per load though, 2 oz for really large...so it should last a very long time. It smells great and cleans beautifully.




This is also pretty healthy and mild and can even be used on your cloth baby diapers.

Have fun.