Homemade liquid laundry detergent

Lately I've been really in to making things from scratch, so when I found out you could make your own laundry soap, I figured I would have to give it a go. I didn't want to have to buy any special equipment to make it, so I decided I would make a small enough batch that I could fit it in my empty detergent bottle from the store. This recipe makes about a gallon of detergent, so make sure you bottle has a capacity of more than 1 gallon(mine was 1.3 gallons). Overall, the process took me about 15 minutes, and should save a significant amount of money. I read many different recipes to come up with my ratios, and they were all about the same, though I did use this one as a starting point.

Liquid Laundry Detergent

Ingredients
1/6 bar Fels Naptha
1/4 cup Washing Soda(not baking soda)
1/4 cup Borax

1. Grate Fels Naptha into a sauce pan with 3 cups hot water. Heat and stir until grated soap is completely melted.
2. Add Washing Soda and Borax and stir until completely dissolved.
3. Using a funnel, pour soap mixture into empty detergent bottle. Add 13 cups hot water to the bottle.
4. Shake well, then let cool and thicken for about 24 hours.


Use 1/3 to 1/2 cup detergent per load. Shake bottle often(if possible, before each use).


Cost Breakdown
Fels Naptha: $0.99 per bar, or $0.17 per batch.
Washing Soda: $2.50 per box, or about $0.10 per batch
Borax:$3.00 per box, or about $0.07 per batch
Overall, a batch cost about $0.34, and should yield 32 to 48 loads, which makes it about a penny a load(a huge savings to store bought detergent, even if you buy it on sale with coupons)!

*Note: I used my regular sauce pan to make this, and just rinsed it VERY well afterwards, but I did buy a separate grater for grating the soap, since I find it so difficult to get the grater completely clean.