Pintastic Homemade Laundry Detergent

There are a couple of household products I hate spending money on.  Dishwasher detergent.  Paper towels. Garbage bags. You know, the stuff that is pricey, pretty boring, but a complete necessity.  I do about 654 loads of laundry a week in this house with a night-time potty-training preschooler, two infants with reflux and who wear cloth diapers, a 65 lbs dog, a husband who throws clothes on the floor whether they are dirty or not, and two extra toddlers who spend Monday - Friday toddling through my house.  Trying to find the right balance between economical and eco-friendly when it comes to a laundry detergent can be a challenge... especially when you are in laundry hell like me.

So when I found a pin to homemade laundry soap, I skedaddled to my nearest grocer to snatch up the fixin's.   I ended up having to go to two different places, as Fareway didn't carry the Fels Naptha, but it was a small price to pay for the prize of under $2 for 40 loads. Yep, you read that right.

This was another project that took under 15 minutes, looks pretty when complete, and BONUS! - makes my kitchen smell like lemons and clean. Two of my favorite smells next to right-outta-the-bath baby and mojitos.

This process was insanely easy. Grate the Fels Naptha, mix together with a cup of Borax and a cup of Washing Soda (not to be confused with Baking Soda). I doubled the batch and got this beauty.

She's so pretty, she found herself a spot on my kitchen counter. I have used this for almost a week now, and  our laundry has been fresh smelling, clean, and fluffy - with only a teaspoon of detergent used. I would consider that a total win.