Laundry Detergent Powder

From: Chef #673444

On Mar 23, 2008

Thank you for posting this recipe! I just completed my first load of laundry using this powder and it seems to work well though I have not tested it out on stained items. I had a little difficulty in finding the ingredients - I eventually found the borax at safeway and the washing soda at fred meyer (they had borax also). I used an all natural oatmeal soap, and found it difficult to grate - it basically turned into a paste. I just mixed it in as best I could.

From: Neophyte #2

On Mar 2, 2008

I used that pink soap that's next to Fels Naptha and WOW it smelled so good! Worked great.

From: luvmybge

On Dec 28, 2003

I like this dry powder better than all the mess of the liquid that I used to make. This saves space, too. You can find SUPER WASHING SODA in the laundry aisle of your supermarket. (look down low on the shelf as they really don't want you to find it.. they'd rather have you spend tons of money on the name brand stuff). I also read where you should not substitute baking soda for the washing soda... but you use your own judgement. I've been mixing 1 cup of grated Fels Naptha soap (grated in my food processor) and then I add one cup of Borax and one cup of Super Washing Soda and blend them all together in the food processor. I've made many batches and have given them to friends along with a 1-tablespoon coffee scoop with the directions to use 2 tablespoons per load. I find that one tablespoon isn't enough for my wash.. so I use 2. Thanks for the idea of the money saver and space saver of a recipe.

From: Kookaburra

On Feb 8, 2007

Updated Review: We've been using this for 3 years now and prefer it to any commercial powder. I use 2 bars of pure soap, and 750g (1 1/2 lbs) each of borax and washing soda. (Lately, I've been able to buy the washing soda in powdered granules rather than as crystals which makes things easier.) Be careful grating the soap in the food processor - you might break the bowl (as I did the first time). Now, I slice the soap into shards with a knife, then grate the shards. To make it finer, I process the grated soap with the chopping blade. If you've bought washing soda crystals, you'll need to whizz these in the food processor or blender as well. Then, just mix the lot together in a large mixing bowl, and decant into jars. The quantities above make two large jars full. We use about 2 tablespoons per load and it works on even muddy jeans and leaves everything crisp, clean and smelling sweet.