Homemade Laundry Detergent

I got the idea to make my own laundry detergent from a friend at work.  She gave me the recipe she uses and said it was about $30 for a years worth of laundry detergent!**  I'm like count me in!  I'm always looking for ways to cut back and this was a great one.  Laundry detergent is so stinking expensive and it's something fun for the kids to do.  The like pouring all of the stuff together.

This is what I used:

96 oz of Oxi Clean
1 box of Washing Powder
3 bars of Fels Naptha soap - I put this in my food processor and I used my cheese grater to grate the soap. Be careful not to bust your knuckles on the cheese grater like Maggie did.
2 cups of Baking Soda
1 big box of Borax
2 containers of Downy Unstopables.  I used Purex Crystals the first time I made the detergent and I think I like the Purex brand better.

The total cost of this is about $30, but you will use the baking soda more than once and I always find coupons for the Downy Unstopables or Purex Crystals.

I put all of this in two garbage bags, and seriously, use two because this stuff is heavy and it will bust through the bag and make a HUGE mess. I might have experienced this myself, on a small scale of course. Once you get everything in the bags, mix it up by rolling around the bags and then pour it in a container. I got this glass container from Walmart and I can't remember how much it is. I use the scoop out of the Oxi Clean for the detergent.  This detergent works fine in an HE washer.

**This is my second round of laundry detergent and it did not last me a year.  It lasted about 4 months. I'm okay with that, we do ALOT of laundry.  It's ridiculous.  The friend that gave me the recipe for this, it did last her a year.

Make this and let me know how you like it!  Hopefully it will last you whole year!