Make Your Own Liquid Laundry Detergent!

Make your own laundry soap by following this quick and easy process. You'll soon wonder why you never did it before! My husband and I have been married for almost 3 years and I've been making my own laundry detergent ever since.

Please read all instructions before starting your detergent making adventure!

What you'll need:
-A bottle of body wash. I use a men's body wash, comes in a fairly large bottle.
-A large pot you won't use for cooking food, use only for soap making.
-Borax
-Super Washing Soda, this is NOT the same as baking soda. You should be able to find this right near the borax in the laundry aisle of your grocery.
-1/4 cup measuring cup, use only for soap making
-Large spoon, use only for soap making
-Large container (I have used a 1/2 gallon milk jug before, currently I am using a laundry jug with a spout on it that I got from someone else.
-Tablespoon measuring spoon, use only for soap making

Instructions
Pour the soap into the pan. Fill the same soap container to the top with water and pour that into the pan as well. Place pan on stove and turn on heat to medium low. Don't let it boil. You want it to simmer slightly. Measure out a little less than 1/4 cup of each borax and washing soda. Add both to the pan. Stir using the spoon. You want the borax and washing soda to dissolve completely. Continue to heat on the stove until you can't feel the grittyness when you stir. Turn off heat and let cool to room temperature.
Pour the detergent into the large container. On wash day, use no more than 1 TBS per load of laundry. You don't want to see suds in your front loader!
You may be thinking that these instructions are way different than you've ever seen and they are. I haven't been able to find a "recipe" like this one yet and I truly believe it's the fastest, easiest, and less complicated than all the others you will find! Once you try it, please let me know how it works for you!
Tip: The Borax and washing soda can clump if you just store them in the open box. I saved two large Sunny D containers and put the borax in one and the washing soda in another. Label them correctly, the look a lot alike!

Just a little note from Lizzle

This might be a very random blog but that's ok, I'm random anyway! I guess it's been a while since my last post so I guess I'll update everyone on things! We're finally married! We just had our two month last Thursday! I really can't believe it's been only two months, lol. Since we got married we have started a small business from home. Our business is called DCLADesigns. Please see the ad on your right! Lots of new items! David makes chainmaille items (like bracelets, necklaces, etc) and I (Liz) make earrings. I have done a lot with glass beads and just made a pair with swarovski crystals last night, which are posted on our site: dcladesigns.etsy.com. Other than making jewelry, I don't do much else (compared to some people). I am a stay at home wife and LOVE IT! I can't imagine not being one, I love the fact that I can keep our place clean and not have a mess for David to come home to. I'm not running around crazy trying to make dinner on a busy night because we both work and don't get home until 4. Everyday I have a different set of cleaning to do, today I have to clean the kitchen and get the trash together. I love that the center of my concentration is at my home. I'm focused on "home" rather than anywhere else. I can't imagine doing anything else! There's a chance I might be baby sitting a little 5 month old baby this fall but, we'll see how that goes. I have to call the lady today to see if she needs me.  So I've been thinking a lot about living "green." I would consider myself to be a "green" christian. I say green christian as opposed to just green because I'm not trying to save the earth, I am kinda but not in the same kind of way some people might be. The Earth is not my home so therefore I need to take care of it the best that I can. These are the things I've been doing: Instead of using sponges I use dish cloths, cheaper and washable! I don't use plastic bags when we go shopping, I have reusable bags. I hate plastic bags period! Cleaners? I go the frugal route: Vinegar! There's a recipe for cleaning wipes online, I think you use equal parts mr clean and water.  Baby wipes? (even though we don't have a baby yet, they're good anyway) We use baby shampoo and baby oil soaking into paper towels. We are using purple paper napkins from our wedding cake right now but once those run out, I'm going to buy some thin wash cloths from the dollar store and use those. I think I do laundry enough to be able to stay caught up on having enough napkins. I don't think it's being frugal necessarily, I just think it's being smart! Another thing we're saving on is food! I think we spend like $40-50 on food every week. Thing is we go to the cheapest grocery store in town. We shop on a budget and I make a grocery list so we don't buy on impulse. It's not very often that David allows me to buy off the list either! I usually get fish, chicken, lunch meat, cheese, bread, cereal, side dishes, frozen vegetables, and canned fruit. We don't buy all of that every week, it kinda varies. We haven't had to buy beef because we have part of a cow from the Snyder's and we get our milk there every week too! I love living frugally! It just makes life easier because we gear our time and energy to more important things!