It is all over Pinterest – making your own household cleaners. I have been making liquid detergent for the last four years and love it. You can read about it and get the recipe here. Someone the other day asked me what about dry detergent. I was about to make some more liquid detergent, and thought I should give it a try.
This is what it takes. All the ingredients are the same for the liquid except it called for baking soda for the dry.
This recipe can be doubled or tripled if you want to make a lot of detergent. I filled almost two large mason jars.
In a large bowl add
3 cups of Borax
2 cups of Baking Soda
2 cups of Washing Soda
1 bar of soap,grated
I tried Fels- Naptha soap this round. I have never used it because when I have made liquid detergent, I have used the basic Ivory soap. You can use a different type of bar soap such as Ivory. Fels had good reviews, and I found it for $1 at my grocery store, so I thought I would give it a try.
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl.
Store in a container of your choice, and you are ready to wash.
Use two tablespoons per large load. I have tried this and thought it works just as well as my homemade liquid detergent. It just comes down to which you prefer. I do not have a high efficiency washing machine. However, at our last apartment we had a high efficiency, and I used the homemade liquid detergent for two years and didn’t have a problem. I would, however, add vinegar once a month and run it through a load to prevent any sort of build up.
Do you have homemade products that you have made and enjoy?
Kim says
So funny I made some too not long ago, but haven’t posted it yet. I do like it.
Anna Popescu says
Thanks so much for posting this! I’m very new at using DIY cleaners and am just about ready to make my own laundry detergent so your post was timely for me. Your method of making dry detergent seems much easier than making the liquid version, so this is what I will try. Again, thanks and have a very blessed day!
~Anna