Do it Yourself: How to Make Laundry Soap

So you're broke as a joke, and you need laundry detergent for cheap.

As someone who has to pay every time to wash my clothes, and goes through the joys of spending my hard earned cash on laundry detergent, being DIY savvy can come in handy.

As a guinea pig and someone who wouldn't lie to me, I asked Christopher Micklus to try the laundry soap. He said it works the same as store bought, name brand "junk," and that he thought it was a cool idea to try.

Let's say the average detergent costs $7 (some cost more), and you can get approximately 32 loads done with one bottle. Let's also say that you wash your clothes once a week. That can get you a good way through the year without having to buy more. That's only if you're doing your laundry. If you have a significant other or children, you're spending more than that. But we'll stick with the single student example.

 My research and buying of the products you will need has shown that in total it costs $13 to make. While that is more than what it would cost to buy a small bottle, it will last longer.

This is a powder recipe, so you can store it in a little plastic box or whatever you have laying around. I happened to have a whole bunch of plastic containers, so I used those.

Things you need to make laundry soap:

            1-55 ounce box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (its important you get super washing soda, not the regular baking soda): $4.00

            1-76 ounce box of 20 Mule Team Borax (this is hard to find, but you can find it in major grocery stores, usually): $5.00

            And Ivory Soap (they usually come in packs): $4.00

Source: diynatural.com

Now, you can make more laundry soap, or less, depending on how much storage space you have.

            1 bar of shaved bar soap (I used a knife, which is dangerous, so be very careful. Use something safer if possible)

            1 cup of Borax

            ­1 cup of washing soda

Stir this for 5 minutes and you're done!

The recommended amount of soap to use per load is only one tablespoon. You can use more than that if you're clothes are extra dirty.

Seeing as there are 8 ounces in a cup, you can make this recipe quite a few times and in the long run it will save you money. You can make this approximately 6 times. Which yields to about 32-50 loads per batch. So you have enough detergent now to last you about three years.

If you're buying a name brand laundry detergent twice a year at $7 per bottle, that's $14 a year. With this recipe you save $29 dollars. And with that extra money, you can spend it on other things you really don't need, but really want.