Holiday Gift Idea: Home Made Laundry Detergent

With the holidays coming up, everyone is looking for gift ideas. The DIY craze has hit full force, and why wouldn't it? It's tough economic times, and the perfect opportunity for individuals to get creative. With this recipe for home made laundry detergent, you can make at least four gifts, all for under $20! There is room to make more than four, depending on how big your canning jars are. There is also room for this to cost less, depending on the brand of the ingredients purchased. Even for personal use, this recipe yields approximately 80 loads for $20. Sounds good to me!

This is a great idea for teachers, your postal worker, coaches or gift exchanges.  I haven't met a person who doesn't wash their clothes :)


Home Made Laundry Detergent {more bang for your buck}
2 Tablespoons per load, 20 loads per jar

Ingredients:

8 Cups Powder Detergent (All $7.00)
1.5 Cups Powder Stain Remover (Oxiclean $5.00)
1 Cup Fabric Softener Crystals (Downy Lush $6.00)
1/2 Cup of Baking Soda ($1.00)
2 Bars of Anti-Bacterial Soap ($2.00)

Supplies:

Canning Jars (I used 1 quart and made 4 jars full)
Cheese Grater
Mixing Bowl
Measuring Cup

** I made half of the recipe at a time in a large mixing bowl, it was definitely easier to manage.

Step 1:

Grate the soap. Using your cheese grater, grate the bar of soap into your mixing bowl.

Step 2: 

Add the powdered detergent, powdered stain lifer, baking soda and fabric softener crystals. Mix each ingredient as added with a large spoon.

Step 3:

Pour the mix in your canning jars. If you are using 1 quart like I did, just fill them to the top. If using a different size, you may want to measure that out in tablespoons.

To finish them off, stick a label on each jar. Make sure to include the instructions: 

2 Tablespoons = 1 load of laundry.

I hope your friends and family love this gift!