Totally Random Thrifty Tip

I know, right?  A thrifty tip from ADRIENNE?  I'm actually pretty excited about this, so I thought I'd share.  This is from the Duggar family website (yep, those people with nineteen kids).  Incidentally, they seem like a pretty awesome (and frugal) family.  Here is their recipe for homemade laundry detergent.  

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

4  Cups - hot tap water

1  Fels-Naptha soap bar (I've found that a regular bar of soap works okay, but I bet the Fels-Naptha works better)

1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*

½ Cup Borax

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!·         

•       Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
• ·         Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
• ·         Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then dilute by filling the rest of the container with warm water. Shake before each use (will gel).
• ·         Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

·          

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (256 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load

Average Cost for Ingredients:

Fels-Naptha soap: $1.00

Washing Soda:     $3.00 (Walmart)

Borax:                 $3.00 (Walmart)

Total Cost:          $7.00

This works out to about 2.3 cents a load for a top loading washer and about 1.1 cents a load for front loading washers.  It's actually less than that, because the Borax and Washing Soda are both enough to make several batches.  For comparison, I found that Arm & Hammer liquid soap (the cheapest I could find online) works out to about 8.3 cents a load.  Pretty awesome, huh?