How to Make Easy, Homemade, Natural, Powdered Laundry Detergent

Do you know what is lurking in your laundry detergent? 

Do you realize that the toxic chemicals found in cleaners and detergents find their way into your body, wreaking havoc as they go? 

 

Maybe it is time to learn how to make your own natural laundry detergent! It is quick, easy, and inexpensive! I had heard about families such as the Duggars making economical liquid homemade detergent, but it looked difficult, messy, and hard to store! No thanks!  But then I learned that it is so easy to make your own POWDERED laundry detergent!  Well, THAT I could try, and you can, too!

 

To prepare, take a trip to your local Walmart, and pick up three simple ingredients: Borax, Fels-Naptha Bar Soap, and Washing Soda...that's all! This recipe must be catching on, because Walmart had all three ingredients located all together on a shelf in the cleaning aisle!  And they were CHEAP! 

 First, use the grating attachment on your food processor to grate the bar of Fels-Naptha soap. Some people substitute Ivory soap for the Fels-Naptha. The kids love this step, because it's really fun to push the soap down, and watch the soap grate up into long orange slivers. (If you don't have a food processor, you can grate the soap by hand, but it takes a bit longer, and is just not quite as fun.)

 

 

Did I mention that this was fun for the kids???

Next, dump the grated soap into a bowl so that you can change the grating attachment to the blending attachment.

Then dump the grated soap back into the food processor. 

    Add one cup of Borax and one cup of Washing Soda (this is NOT baking soda!)

                                    

Blend this lovely mixture into a lovely, sweet-smelling powder.

                                     

Finally, pour your beautiful natural laundry detergent into the container of your choice. 

This even makes a lovely gift for a friend! Find a beautiful glass jar, attach a coffee scoop and gift label with some twine, and you have a practical, unique gift that everyone will appreciate!

Instructions for using your easy, homemade, natural laundry detergent:  For regular washing machines, dissolve 2 TBS in the bottom of the washer before adding clothes. For high-efficiency washers, place 1 TBS in the bottom of the washer with your clothes. Do not use the powder dispenser, as it could clog....trust me...  ;)
Your clothes will come out smelling simply and refreshingly clean!

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