Homemade Laundry Detergent

Following the lead of my friend Julie, I have started making my own laundry detergent.  She makes liquid but I decided to make powdered instead (easier for me to store).  After experimenting with a couple of recipes, I think I found one that I love.  This recipe is very low sudsing so don't be surprised if you open the washer during the cycle and don't see lots of bubbles.  Also, I have read that it can be used in either regular or HE front loading washers.

1.  1 bar Ivory Soap finely grated.  The original recipe that I used called for Fels Naptha but I didn't like it as well.  A cool way to grate the soap - put the whole bar on a plate for 1 1/2 minutes in the microwave.  It will puff up and turn into a fine powder when you rub it between your hands.  Ivory is super cheap.  You can also use any other soap that you have - just make sure it doesn't have oil in it like Dove.

2.  1 cup Borax.  The real name of this is 20 Mule Team Borax.  You can find it in the laundry detergent section of the store.  I've even seen it at Wal-Mart.

3.  1 cup Washing Soda.  This is WASHING soda, not baking soda.  I have found it in the detergent aisle at Macey's Food and Drug (for those people in Utah).  I have also heard that Winco and Kroger carry it.  You can also find it online at Amazon, acehardware.com, and various other retailers.

4.  1/4 cup Oxyclean.  I think that this really made a different in the whiteness of our clothes (compared to the first recipe that I tried).

Mix everything together into a bumpy, granular mix.  You only need to use 1 Tablespoon for lighter loads, 2 Tablespoons for larger or dirty loads.  Yes - I did say tablespoon.  I use a Rubbermaid container for the detergent and a tablespoon measurer (is that a word?) from Dollar Tree.