It’s easy and inexpensive to make your own laundry detergent. This recipe is very low-sudsing so is great for high efficiency (HE) machines.
1 bar Fels Naptha soap
1 cup washing soda
1 cup borax
Finely grate Fels Naptha soap. Mix well with washing soda and borax. Use 2 tablespoons for average laundry, 3 to 4 tablespoons if heavily soiled. ( Make sure to use WASHING soda, NOT baking soda)
TIP: I buy Fels Naptha ahead, unwrap it and let it ‘dry out’ for a few weeks before using it. It’s easier to grate and has a finer consistency, hence it mixes better with the washing soda and borax.
Your detergent will have very little scent. If you prefer more scent you could add a little of the new crystal fabric softeners to the mix.
This mixture doesn’t have all the “brighteners and whiteners” commercial laundry detergent does so over time you may feel your whites aren’t as bright as they were. The clothes are clean, they just haven’t been exposed to the optical additives ready- made detergent has. A work-around for that is to use laundry “bluing”, a non-toxic, time proven method of brightening clothes which has been used for years. It’s easy to do with machines that are not high efficiency, a little more complicated with HE machines due to their using less water. Google ‘laundry bluing’ for more information.