Homemade Laundry Detergent....Does It Really Work?

I am always on the lookout for a good deal, especially if it's something that I can create myself.  With that being said, as I was tooling around in blogland the other day, I finally found a laundry detergent that seemed worth trying on How Does She?.com.  I found all of the ingredients in the laundry detergent isle at Walmart.  The recipe is as follows:

1 3lb. tub of OxyClean (optional)
1 4lb. box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (or 2 2 lb. boxes)
1 3lb. box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 4lb. box of Borax
2 Bars of Fels-Naptha laundry bar soap (or Zote)
1 55 oz. bottle of Purex Crystals (optional)
1 3 gal. bucket or larger with lid for storage

I started by grating both bars of Fels-Naptha soap into a large metal bowl.  You can do this by hand or with a food processor.  Since I don't have a food processor, I opted to grate it by hand and was fortunate enough to hand this job off to my husband (seriously, he was chomping at the bit to help out).  Once that was done, the process was simple.  I poured a little of each ingredient into a 3 gallon bucket (kind of like a parfait) and then put the lid on and shook it till it was completely mixed. 

The ingredients cost a little under $30.00 and made a huge supply that will probably last me a year since you only need about 2-3 tablespoons per load.  I am a bit picky about how things smell and often skeptical about how homemade things actually work, so I was overjoyed when I found out the recipe called for my favorite fabric softener (Purex Crystals).  It is an optional ingredient, but if you want things to smell good, I would choose to use it.  You can also add a second bottle to the mixture if you want a stronger scent and more softness.

My favorite scent is "Fresh Spring Waters" (blue bottle)

I was also not sure what "Fels-Naptha" looked like so here's a picture for those of you who dare to try this recipe.  I was also pleasantly surprised that it smelled good too.

  Here is a picture of my finished product in the bucket.

I kept the scoop from the OxyClean to use in my bucket!

The How Does She? blog suggested using the Purex container for easy use and measuring.  There are 3 lines on the lid  and each one represents about a tablespoon.  I used all 3 lines for a full load.

So......the big question......did it work?  I am happy to say that I did not waste $30.00 dollars and that I am very pleased with the results.  Not only did my laundry smell wonderful--it was also nice and clean.  A quick tip if you are going to try this recipe.  I found that the Fels-Naptha should have been grated a bit smaller because it does not pour out of the container lid very well.  If you are not using the Purex container, then no worries! 

Now my next big challenge will be finding an all-purpose homemade cleaner that I can live with...