diy christmas present idea: laundry detergent

this year for christmas i decided i was going to get more crafty when it came to gifts. it is more personal and i really enjoy diy projects!

for my parents i decided to try making some homemade laundry detergent. my parents are really into natural type products (they love Tom's for toothpaste!) so i thought it would be a neat project for me to try out. plus it will be something new for my parents to try!

i chose a simple recipe, a powder one. all you have to do is grate and measure! as for if it is the best/cleanest/most effective detergent, i am not sure. i will have to get feedback from my parents after they use it.

here is what i used:



1 bar of fels-naptha
1 bar of castile soap
baking soda

fels-naptha is an old school laundry soap. this will probably be the hardest item for you to find. i found mine at my local True Value store in the soaps/laundry aisle.

as for castile soap, it should be easier. i used dr. bronners which i found at target. if you want a cheaper alternative (dr bronners is expensive, around $5 for one bar!) try walmart for kirk's castile soap. it comes in a pack of three for around $3-4.



all i did was grate the soaps with a cheese grater, add 1 1/2 cups of baking soda, and stirred it all together. for each load, about a 1/3 cup should be used... 1/2 cup for heavily soiled ones. to store my mixture i found a glass canister at the salvation army for 50 cents, but you could put it in a mason jar if you had that handy.

what do you think? do you make your own detergent? what recipe do you use? i hope this recipe i used works well for my parents.

i have a few diy christmas present ideas that i will probably share if they turn out well so stay tuned...