DIY laundry detergent and dryer sheets

 This week I realzied I was really close to running out of laundry detergent and dryer sheets. I started searching for a way to cut costs in the laundry room. As we have a front loading washer. When we purchased the washer Sears told us that we could only use "he" type soap or it voids the warranty.  That type of soap is so expensive.
I wanted to find out more info on the "soapyness" of laundry detergents. Right before we bought our washer, we also purchased a huge box of soap. So this soap has been sitting in my laundry room collecting dust for a few years. So I took a tsp of each soap, 8oz of water and compared them by shaking the jar of soapy water. Sure enough the non "he" detergent had a bunch of bubbles that stayed put. The "he" detergent had soapy bubbles at first but they quickly popped.
After some research, I found that the ingredient that helps with non-soapyness is found in Arm and Hammer Washing Soda. It is called sodium carbonate. There are many tutorials from Pinterest to You Tube  that show how to make homemade detergent.
I thought I will go with a website where people knew laundry. So I turned to the Duggar family..ya know the patient parents of 19 kids..going on 20 now. I thought well I have seen their laundry room on tv and if there is someone who knows something about doing laundry, the Duggar family is the one.
I did this recipe but cut it down to a 1/4 because I did not have a 5 gallon bucket.
Here are the instructions:
http://www.duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/homemade_liquid_laundry_soap_front_or_top_load_machine_best_value

Review :
Since I  only have 5 bears that need  clothes washed, I cut the recipe in 1/4. I had read on many websites during my research that any  bar soap will do, I used pure Ivory soap.. what I had on hand. Otherwise I followed the recipe to a "T".( cutting the recipe in 1/4) . It was simple to make. Took about 30 minutes total of my time. I suggest if you make it to not use a food processor. The shavings are bigger and take longer to melt and clump together. I used the smaller shredder side of my cheese grater. It made it into fine shreds. I added them slowly to the boiling water. I stirred constantly scraping sides of  pot until it was dissolved.
Then added it to my bucket of hot water and used my hand blender to blend it together.( the blending is a great idea to get it mixed well) Since all I had was a 16qt bucket I put foil over it and let it sit overnight up away from kids and pets. When its all done it resembles a watery slime thing..like the crud Slimer would leave from Ghostbusters.  I stirred well to break up the gelliness, I then took a small cup and a funnel, and used a recycled plastic gallon jug ( minute maid oj bottle) and filled it up with the slimy concoction. this concentrated and you must add one part water to one part detergent to get the finished product. I store the concentrated version in the cabinet and have explained to my hubby how to measure it out.

Now for the finished product I had an empty fabric softener bottle. So the  old empty fabric softener bottle is now our detergent bottle to measure out for the laundry loads. Filled that half way with the new detergent I made and filled the rest of the bottle with water. (one part detergent to one part water) The instructions for front loaders call for 1/4 cup of detergent per load. So I filled the "softener bottle top" with 1/4 cup of water and marked with a permanent marker the line to fill to. I have to do this cause my kids do laundry as a chore.   I thought I would be cute and put our name on the bottle so it says "The 5 Bears Laundry Detergent"  (5 bears yes..Im Mama Bear, hubby is Papa Bear, and my kids are Gummy Bear, Teddy Bear and Boo Bear. Cute huh?)

Well anyway, It looks like liquid detergent and smells like clean smell, you can add essential oils for fragrance..but I do not have any yet..(ahemm..Santa do you hear me?) They also say that the lines on your front loading washer can get clogged, and so I suggest just to be cautious to use 1/4 cup or so of vinegar once a week in the fabric softener cup thing in your washer to keep your lines squeaky clean.
*side note, you can use vinegar as a fabric softener daily to replace dryer sheets or fabric softener. Very economical and eco-friendly. Scroll to the bottom and I have a cheap way to make fabric sheets.

I dried my load I washed with my new detergent, It smells great! Like fresh laundry. No perfumes.If you do the whole recipe the Duggars have, it will make you 640 loads worth of soap. WOW.. and the savings, lets just say you cannot compare. Washing soda is all I needed to buy and a box of that runs a little under 4 bucks for 6 cups or so of washing soda. I used a fraction of it. So  I pretty much paid estimated 4 bucks (including my on hand bar soap and borax) for 160 loads of laundry detergent. HELLO savings!!! I thought buying washing soda would be a good 4 dollar investment as I can use it for liquid dish soap and powered dishwasher detergent (those posts coming soon too) I don't think I will ever go back to store bought laundry detergent ever again.

My version of  DIY dryer sheets:

That bottle I mentioned earlier the little fabric softener bottle that is now my detergent bottle, What was in the bottle ( downy fabric softener) that was what I used to make dryer sheets. Again, I use what I have on had and try not to buy something if I can avoid it. I had an old recycled large plastic pickle jar ( thanks pregnancy cravings from 3 years ago) that had been sitting around waiting to be used. I poured the gloopy old fabric softener into this large pickle jar. I filled up the little bottle twice and a half and poured it into the pickle jar until it was full with water. I then shook the plastic pickle jar with my concoction  really well.

Again, after some research, some people like to dip sponges in and squeeze them out and put them in the dryer. I do not buy sponges cause they are gross and harbor bacteria. I thought why waste money, I took a sock from the load I just did, dipped it in the slimy fabric softener soultion, and squeezed the excess and placed it in the dryer with the rest of the wet laundry. Wiped my hands on something that was damp in the washer and turned it on..Voila instant dryer sheet. and no dryer sheets to linger and find around the house. (Although there are many uses for used dryer sheets but that is another post) This cost me $1.50 for a gallon of "fabric softener"( That is 768 loads of dryer sheets!!! ) I use about 1tsp of fabric softener each load. I am estimating. Dipping a kids sock and coating it then squeezing out the excess. I say 1.50 cause I used a coupon years back on a clearance bottle of softener. I never use softener anyway in my wash because it requires more water to wash. I like to save money not send it down the drain. I will never buy another dryer sheet again. This stuff will last me forever. I think you will have to shake it from time to time but it works just as well as a dryer sheet does.