Homemade Laundry Detergent
Is it really worth it?
Is it really worth it?
I read a great article a while back on The Simple Dollar on how much money you save by making your own laundry detergent. I decided to put it to the test. Here are the differences in my experiment:
I make a powder laundry detergent which is even simpler than his liquid detergent. I also used the retail prices of the ingredients in my recipe. I think he used sale prices, but I wanted to show the very least amount of money you'll save. So I save even more money by buying the ingredients on sale. Here's the recipe:
Ingredients
2.5 oz bath soap (I use Ivory. Any unscented or light scented soap works fine)
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
Directions
1. Grate soap (I use a food processor. It takes a few seconds)
2. Mix soap, borax, and washing soda in a container with a lid
3. Use 2 tbs per load of laundry. (Many people only use 1 tbs, but I find 2tbs works best for me)
Boy , that's simple. It takes only a few minutes to make. I usually double or triple the recipe. You should be able to find the borax and washing soda in the laundry aisle of your grocery store. They are usually on the top shelf beside each other. I have had great results using this recipe. In my opinions its equal in quality to the more expensive detergents. Now onto the savings:
The recipe makes enough detergent for 25 loads if you use 2 tbs per load. Here's the cost breakdown:
$.38 One cup borax
.37 One cup washing soda
.30 2.5 oz Ivory soap
------------------------------
$1.05 for 25 loads.
Divide $1.05 by 25 and you get about $.04 a load. Now compared to other brands:
Homemade detergent- $.04 per load
Inexpensive detergent (I used Xtra)- $.07 per load
Expensive detergent (I used Tide)- $.20 per load
Next I'll use the average that The Simple Dollar uses of 1 load of laundry a day. This is on the low end for me. So per year your average cost would be:
Homemade detergent- $15/year
Inexpensive detergent- $26/year
Expensive detergent- $73/year
So you could save anywhere from $11 to $58 a year. So is it worth it? I'll leave that up to you. For me, definitely. Its super easy to make and I buy all my ingredients on sale so I save even more money.
I make a powder laundry detergent which is even simpler than his liquid detergent. I also used the retail prices of the ingredients in my recipe. I think he used sale prices, but I wanted to show the very least amount of money you'll save. So I save even more money by buying the ingredients on sale. Here's the recipe:
Ingredients
2.5 oz bath soap (I use Ivory. Any unscented or light scented soap works fine)
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
Directions
1. Grate soap (I use a food processor. It takes a few seconds)
2. Mix soap, borax, and washing soda in a container with a lid
3. Use 2 tbs per load of laundry. (Many people only use 1 tbs, but I find 2tbs works best for me)
Boy , that's simple. It takes only a few minutes to make. I usually double or triple the recipe. You should be able to find the borax and washing soda in the laundry aisle of your grocery store. They are usually on the top shelf beside each other. I have had great results using this recipe. In my opinions its equal in quality to the more expensive detergents. Now onto the savings:
The recipe makes enough detergent for 25 loads if you use 2 tbs per load. Here's the cost breakdown:
$.38 One cup borax
.37 One cup washing soda
.30 2.5 oz Ivory soap
------------------------------
$1.05 for 25 loads.
Divide $1.05 by 25 and you get about $.04 a load. Now compared to other brands:
Homemade detergent- $.04 per load
Inexpensive detergent (I used Xtra)- $.07 per load
Expensive detergent (I used Tide)- $.20 per load
Next I'll use the average that The Simple Dollar uses of 1 load of laundry a day. This is on the low end for me. So per year your average cost would be:
Homemade detergent- $15/year
Inexpensive detergent- $26/year
Expensive detergent- $73/year
So you could save anywhere from $11 to $58 a year. So is it worth it? I'll leave that up to you. For me, definitely. Its super easy to make and I buy all my ingredients on sale so I save even more money.
posted by weezawear at
8:06 AM
5 Comments:
so cool! Thanks for the recipe ... and the $$$ breakdown.
Thanks for doing the work for me. I was wondering about making my own too since my son has eczema. It is great to know that it will save me some money too.
Anne
Very interesting--I think you have convinced me to give this a shot! I appreciate your research.
Smiles, Karen
I have used this recipe for several years now and LOVE it. A great choice instead of Ivory is a castile soap like Dr.Bronners or Kirks. They are both pure soaps, so they are better for you and the enviroment. ;)
Happy washing!
Good tip about the pure soaps Colette.
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