Home made laundry detergent

The cast of characters:

1/3 bar of Fels-Naptha soap

1/2 cup of Borax

1/2 cup of Arm and Hammer super washing soda

water, a grater, a cutting board, and a large bucket

(you can get all of the ingredients at Meijer for less than $9

and you can make endless batches with the initial investment of the soda and borax)

Start by grating 1/3 bar of soap - you can also do this in a food processor, but it wasn't hard to grate and it cleaned up very easily.
Add 6 cups of water and heat until the soap melts.
Add the borax and washing soda and stir until combined.

Put 4 cups of hot tap water into your bucket and add the soap mixture.

Stir in 22 more cups of water.

Let it sit for 12-24 hours. It will take on a rather jelly like consistency. It's quite strange really. Kind of in between jello and water. You can leave it in the bucket and scoop out 1/2 cup for each load, or you can transfer it into another container.

The blog I got this from says she spends $.01 a load. That's madness!! Also, she uses it in her front loader washer and since it doesn't make suds she has had great results. Enjoy!