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Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 about 15 5 gallon buckets 70g Recipe makes 15 about 15 5 gallon buckets) The following items or measurements are not included below: borax
Calories 0
Calories from Fat 0		(0%)
Amount Per Serving		%DV
	Total Fat 0.0g	0%
	Saturated Fat 0.0g	0%
	Monounsaturated Fat 0.0g
	Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0g
	Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg		0%
Sodium 1mg		0%
Potassium 0mg		0%
Total Carbohydrate 0.0g		0%
	Dietary Fiber 0.0g	0%
	Sugars 0.0g
Protein 0.0g		0%
how is this calculated?

Sue's Homemade Laundry Detergent

Recipe #391066 | 40 min | 40 min prep | add private note

⁽⁰⁾ RATE IT NOW Print Recipe

By: smartblonde #2
Sep 21, 2009

I was given this recipe by a customer where I work. This is very easy to make and you'll love the cost. Broken down (approximately) $7.86 Arm and Hammer Detergent(7.94 lbs), $4.19 20 Mule team borax(76 oz), .72 bar of Ivory, $1.19 bar of Fels. The cost of a bucket of soap is approximately $1.84!!! Also it smells great. Hint- putting soap in freezer for about an hour makes it much easier to grate.

15 about 15 5 gallon buckets (change servings and units)

Ingredients

arm and hammer laundry detergent (7.94 lbs)
20 mule team borax (76 oz)
soap bars (1 Ivory 4.5 oz bar)
soap bars (1 Fels Naptha 5 1/2 oz bar)
1 soap bar (Ivory, grated)
1/2 soap bar (Fels Naptha, grated)
1 cup laundry detergent (use Arm and Hammer)
1 cup borax (use 20-Mule Team)
4 cups boiling water

Directions

1
The first 4 ingredients are what you need to buy. The next 5 are to make the actual recipe.
2
Dissolve soaps and detergent in 5 gallon bucket with 4 cups of boiling water.( I used the paint stirrer and drill for this the 2nd time I made it, it dissolved the ingredients much better than by hand).
3
Once dissolved add another 4 cups of very hot water.
4
Stir well and add enough water to fill 5 gallon bucket to the top.
5
Let sit overnight. Soap will gel up and you will need to stir completely with your hand or use a paint stirrer on the end of a drill. You can fill empty laundry bottles or keep in bucket with a cover.
6
1 - 5 gallon bucket will make about 80 loads of detergent.
7
( A little extra math- 1 box of Arm and Hammer, 2 boxes of 20-Mule Team, 15 bars of Ivory and 8 bars of Fels will make about 1200 loads of laundry for about $35.96).
8
Also I bought an inexpensive grater just for the soap. It was suggested to use a food processor but I didn't like doing that.