I made my 2nd batch of this detergent yesterday and thought I would share my tips now that we have been using it for almost a year now. There is a link below for the recipe and here are my tips!
1. Use the Pink Zote. It smells great and makes your detergent pretty. (Which makes me a little happier when doing the massive loads of laundry since our magic laundry fairy is missing!). Tip with the Zote is to cut the bar into about 6 sections and then cut each section in three. Then put 3-4 sections on a plate and microwave for 2 minutes until it is all puffy and not bright pink any more. Let it cool (but not too long or it gets hard) and then crumble into tiny pieces.
2. I found the large canister I used for my 2nd batch at Walmart. It is clear plastic and make it easier to use than using the Purex bottles. I like the Purex bottles so I use the for them for my extra, but if your Zote crumbles are too large it gets stuck.
3. To save shopping time you can order it all from Walmart.com and have it shipped to store for free. I had to order 1ingredient inline anyway so it would have saved me time!
4. Mix it up outside! You will make a mess...so it is just easier!
Our first batch lasted about 9 months and we do a lot of laundry! It is great for HE washers and smells amazing!
Previous post from 2013:
That's Right - I made my own laundry detergent! Just go ahead and call me Susie Homemaker. (I'm hearing roaring laughter from anyone who really knows me know!)
I've seen this recipe for DIY laundry detergent before - but never had the time to really think about it. The claim is that it is Cheaper and Better...so I decided to put it to the test!!!
I came across the recipe again on Pinterest and followed the link here and decided to try it out.
The ingredients are pretty simple...but not found everywhere. I price shopped each ingredient and found that the best place to buy them was at Walmart. And just as the post said - they cost $28 all together. Not too bad!
The first step was to shred or crumble the Zote - so I enlisted a little help! You could either grate the bars with a cheese grater or...
put it in the microwave for a while and it blows up and dryes out like this...
Next, it was time to put the whole mix together. I decided to do this outside because I could tell after working on the soap that I was going to make a mess! So I took everything out to the patio table.
By this time - my help had found better things to do! Digging in the mulch is so much cooler than helping mom!
I layered each ingredient and then stirred it together. I would definately do this in layers because it makes a TON so it would be very hard to stir up if you did it all at once.
Once put together - it looks like this! It is really pretty with the purple Purex Crystals and the pink Zote - and it smells incredible!
So when I said earlier that it made a ton - I was not kidding! I had not even started to think about what I was doing to put the detergent in...and I need that bucket for other cleaning! So I placed my detergent in a number of beautiful looking containers as you can see below!
If you wash an average of 6 loads of laundry a week - this batch of detergent should last you a year. That's $2.33 a month. Now that's a pretty good deal!
I roughly calculated that we were probably spending $70 a year on laundry detergent and that doesn't include fabric softener. So $28 a year sounds pretty great for everything right! And now - this is what I see when I do laundry - and it makes me happy every time!
We've been using the DIY detergent for about 2 weeks now and I Love it! It smells great, seems to clean really well - although no one's been rolling in the mud lately since we live in California now and rain is a luxury around here!
Would you make your own detergent? I'd love to hear your feedback and thoughts!
