DIY Liquid laundry detergent

I've read over several diff DIY laundry detergent methods....not loving any of the liquid ones until I saw this one. All of the other one's I read up on seemed to have so many steps and then made such a HUGE supply I had no way of making that much or storing that much.  That is until I stumbled upon this site:

http://deskstovetablecounter.blogspot.com/2012/01/super-thrifty-liquid-laundry-detergent.html

So I bought the necessary ingredients and decided to add fabric softener to ours for extra scent and softness. I am a sucker for scented clean clothes!

1/3 bar of Fels Naphtha, 5.5 ounce bar. 
1/2 cup of washing soda
1/2 cup of borax powder
2 Gallon jugs, recycled vinegar jugs are great. 
Grate the soap and put it into a large saucepan with 8 cups of water over med. heat. Heat the mix until soap melts.

Add washing soda and borax. Stir constantly until dissolved. Let it sit for 5 minutes over the heat stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and let sit another 5 min.

Use a funnel and put 1/2 of the mixture into each gallon jug. Fill each jug 1/2 way with hot water and shake well.

Fill the jugs all the way with hot water, and shake again. let sit for 24 hours. This gels up and looks like egg whites.
use 1/4 to 1/3 cup per load.

I had some left over detergent plastic bottles that I recycled and filled. I used the top of the lid to measure my detergent.  

I saw another great post on powder detergent but its a HUGE supply so maybe if I cut it into half that will work. I want to try both powder and liquid to see which I like better. Typically I like liquid detergent best but I will see soon enough. Lets see how long this liquid lasts me. 

The website says based on the cost of the ingredients it runs about 2cents per load! I don't think any name brand or even generic brand can beat that price. I think even a generic brand is say $5 and does 32 loads that is .15 cents per load.

Score!
Borax: $4.79 for a 5lb box, I used only 1/2 cup and this is an all purpose cleaner too!
Baking wash $4.59 again a 5lb box, I only used 1/2 cup this will last forever!
Soap: $1.25 I only used half the bar
TOTAL: 10.63 but this will make me a lot of detergent, more than what I would pay 10.63 for.

I've read over several diff DIY laundry detergent methods....not loving any of the liquid ones until I saw this one. All of the other one's I read up on seemed to have so many steps and then made such a HUGE supply I had no way of making that much or storing that much.  That is until I stumbled upon this site:

http://deskstovetablecounter.blogspot.com/2012/01/super-thrifty-liquid-laundry-detergent.html

So I bought the necessary ingredients and decided to add fabric softener to ours for extra scent and softness. I am a sucker for scented clean clothes!

1/3 bar of Fels Naphtha, 5.5 ounce bar. 
1/2 cup of washing soda
1/2 cup of borax powder
2 Gallon jugs, recycled vinegar jugs are great. 
Grate the soap and put it into a large saucepan with 8 cups of water over med. heat. Heat the mix until soap melts.

Add washing soda and borax. Stir constantly until dissolved. Let it sit for 5 minutes over the heat stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and let sit another 5 min.

Use a funnel and put 1/2 of the mixture into each gallon jug. Fill each jug 1/2 way with hot water and shake well.

Fill the jugs all the way with hot water, and shake again. let sit for 24 hours. This gels up and looks like egg whites.
use 1/4 to 1/3 cup per load.

I had some left over detergent plastic bottles that I recycled and filled. I used the top of the lid to measure my detergent.  

I saw another great post on powder detergent but its a HUGE supply so maybe if I cut it into half that will work. I want to try both powder and liquid to see which I like better. Typically I like liquid detergent best but I will see soon enough. Lets see how long this liquid lasts me. 

The website says based on the cost of the ingredients it runs about 2cents per load! I don't think any name brand or even generic brand can beat that price. I think even a generic brand is say $5 and does 32 loads that is .15 cents per load.

Score!
Borax: $4.79 for a 5lb box, I used only 1/2 cup and this is an all purpose cleaner too!
Baking wash $4.59 again a 5lb box, I only used 1/2 cup this will last forever!
Soap: $1.25 I only used half the bar
TOTAL: 10.63 but this will make me a lot of detergent, more than what I would pay 10.63 for.