Homemade Laundry Detergent

I've always considered myself fairly frugal but I do draw the line on how far I will go to save money.  Making my own laundry detergent used to be on that list of items I would not do but changed my mind some time last year.  After months of hardly any sales on the few laundry detergents my son can use without breaking out in a rash, I decided to give the homemade detergent a try.  

I think one thing that turned me off to it was most of the recipes I had seen were for liquid detergent that made massive amounts.  I'm a liquid fan but I didn't want to have to store that much.  I'm not a huge fan of powdered detergent but ran across and easy recipe and decided to give it a try.  I'm so glad I did because it is easy and is saving our family a bundle.  There are literally hundreds of variations of this recipe on the internet but this is the one I've found that works best for us.

1/2 bar Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar Soap
1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Super Wash Soda
1/2 cup Mule Team Borax 

Grate the Fels-Naptha soap then mix with the Wash Soda and Borax.  Use 1 tablespoon per each load of laundry.

I tend to make a double batch so that I always have plenty on hand.  I've also learned that it is easier to grate the soap if you take it out of the wrapper and allow it to dry out for a few days.

All of these ingredients were found at my local grocery store and with the exception of the soap, they will last a long time.  I've been using this detergent for about six months and I'm still on my original box of borax and washing soda.