Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

This is simple home-made laundry detergent. It's much easier on the skin, wallet and environment than the regular stuff.

I was a bit dubious at first, but it does a great job of cleaning our clothes. It removes dirt and mud stains really well. For greasy stains, I pre-treat the spots by making some baking soda into a paste with a small bit of water, rubbing it in gently onto the offending fabric, and then spraying it with vinegar before it goes into the laundry.

Home Made Laundry Detergent
Yield: 3 1/2 cups or approx. 30 loads
Time: 10 minutes

Hardware:
4 cup food processor
Cheese grater
Container to keep detergent in

Software:
2 bars of soap - Just grab whatever you think smells nice. In total, you'll need 250g
1 cup soda crystals or washing soda. Check out our post how to make washing soda if you can't get your hands on any.
1 cup baking soda
White Vinegar

1. Grate the soap bars using your cheese grater

2. Mix baking soda, soda crystals and soap flakes together in food processor until very fine.

I like to give it a few pulses, and then just let it run on full for about 1 minute.

If there are a lot of large pebble sized bits of soap I find they stay on your clothes through the wash.

3. Use about 2-3 tablespoons of the detergent per load in the detergent slot of your washing machine, add about 2 tablespoons of vinegar to the softener compartment.

This Instructable was originally posted by Karalalala and is being shared under a CreativeCommons license.

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