Duggar Detergent

So I decided to finally make my own laundry detergent, which I will endearingly call "Duggar Detergent" for my favorite mega family who makes this as well. You can call it penny detergent, or cheap detergent. Whatever you call it, it was very inexpensive to make, with very little effort, which I enjoyed as part of my first summer vacation project.

I decided to make a small batch just in case I didn't like how it went (or if I messed it up). So here's how it went.

Note: Plan for about 30 minutes and an overnight wait for the detergent to be ready. I was super eager to do this Saturday morning and do laundry all morning...but alas, I had to wait.

 

Supplies needed:  

To purchase--

• 1/3 bar Fels-Naptha bar soap (you can use Zote or Ivory as well)
• 1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (NOT BAKING SODA)
• 1/2 cup Borax Detergent Booster
• a big bucket (I suggest a 5 gallon bucket with a lid..picked up from Home Depot)  
• essential oils of your choice (use if you want your detergent to be scented...I passed on this, not sure where to find) 

To have on hand--

• Big pot to "cook" the detergent in (8 quart?)
• cheese grater (any type is fine)
• old detergent bottles, Simply Orange Juice bottles (something with a screw on top that won't leak) to put the finished detergent in.

I found the detergent, soap, and washing soda all at Wal-mart and H-E-B. Look for all three in the detergent aisle. 

Here we go in a few easy steps!

Step 1: Cut bar of soap into thirds (save the extra 2/3 for a later batch). 

Step 2: Shred bar of soap with a cheese grater. Avoid grating your fingers.

 

Step 3: Put grated soap in 6 cups of water and put over medium heat on stovetop. Cook until soap is dissolved.

This is not cheese.

Step 4: Add 1/2 cup Borax and 1/2 cup of Washing Soda. Stir until dissolved, then remove from heat.

Step 5: Pour mixture into large bucket with 4 cups of hot water. Add essential oils if desired. Stir well. Add another 22 cups (1 gallon and 6 cups) and continue to stir.

Step 6: Cover and let sit overnight. You're done!

When you open the container the next day, it will probably have jelled on top. This is normal (depending on humidity, temp, etc) but honestly grossed me out a bit. It was like....oysters...yuck. But it smells so clean, so I got over it. :)

I stirred it as best as I could, and then ladled it out into an clean, old detergent bottle. I left the rest of the detergent in the bucket and closed it again. 

Goodbye $8 for 32 loads!

After 5 loads or so: I use 1/2 cup for each load. I have shaken the bottle up every time before using, and it actually feels a little watery, not jelled up at all. But it seems to be cleaning the clothes the same way as my expensive detergent, still smells clean, and the clothes feel soft. 

-------

So....should we do the math?

Bucket : $4.50 (A start up cost)
Borax: $3.38
Fels Naptha: $0.97
Washing Soda: $2.99

I used about 1/10 of the Borax and 1/10 of the Washing Soda at the very most. These boxes are huge and have plenty of of more helpings, but since it gave me the weight and not the volume, it was hard to calculate. I used about 1/3 of the bar of soap. Not counting the bucket, it was under $1 for about 312 loads. 1/3 of a penny a load! Even including the bucket in this load, it would still be 2 pennies a load!


I don't know if I can ever go back to the expensive stuff! Could you? The minimal work feels worth it to me!

Let me know if you try it, and any variations you try. So far, I'm loving it!


Need more direction? Feel free to visit the blog that I got most of my info from!