Years ago I started making my own laundry detergent. I could afford to buy it but I felt I was no longer getting the most for my money. Since the phosphates were removed, laundry took more time and care than it used to.
I searched the Internet for recipes and found a couple that I tried. This one is the one that I settled on. It’s easy to do.
DIY Laundry Soap
2 cups finely grated laundry bar
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
Thoroughly mix together.
You only need about 2 tablespoons per load of this mix. Hard to believe, I know, but it works. It’s not a laundry sensation, though. Stains still need to be treated. Colors still need to be separated. Some things may need a pre-soak to come clean.
So, it’s not a miracle cure for laundry woes but this mix wins the cost war handily.
Recently, I did some cost comparisons for laundry detergent that I might buy if not for my homemade mix.
Sun Concentrated was an affordable $.07 per load. Gain comes in at $.017 for each load. Tide Original closes the door with $.18 per load.
I am sensitive to the fragrance in many products, so I buy the type without added scents which are usually liquid detergents rather than the dry.
Purex Free and Clear rang up at approximately $.08 per load. All Free and Clear inched the cost to about $.10 per load. Tide Free and Gentle tipped the scale at nearly $.21 per load.
The DIY mix above comes in at $.04 per load and doesn’t leave any scent on my clothing.
With just the two of us in the house, we only have two or three loads of wash per week’ so our savings aren’t huge. But, at 3 loads a week, the least expensive, fragrance-free detergent would cost us $.24 per week, or $12.48 per year. The DIY mix is $.12 per week or $6.24 per year.
Is that going to move us on up? Probably not, but it’s a single snowflake in our snowball.
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