Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent with the Power of TIDE!

I have been making my own homemade liquid laundry detergent for some time now, and I’m hooked.  I absolutely love the stuff!  The thing that I love the very most is the huge amount of money that it saves me.  I can make 5 gallons of the homemade version for less than $2.  Try finding that kind of deal in your local grocery store!

My original recipe has gotten a ton of response from ya’ll, and you seem to love it as much as I do.  However, there are those out there that won’t even try it because they have a love affair with Tide, my mother included.  So, I had to try to make a version of homemade detergent for all the Tide-snobs out there.

Now, when I set to work on this version – I had no intention of switching to it because I was quite happy with the version I already made.  But, after I created it and began testing it with my own dirty laundry, I was addicted.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my original version – but this one cleans even better, even the whites.

Awesome-ness.

That being said, this version is pretty much the same as my original version – just with an added boost of Tide.  Yes, it does cost a little bit more to make – but compared to the price of buying straight Tide, it’s a huge money saver.  I recommend watching the sales & pairing it with a coupon, if available, to boost those savings a little more.  I can usually get a 75 fl. oz. bottle for $7 when I do this.

I buy my ingredients at WalMart, which I’ve found to be the cheapest place to buy them at.  Let me break down my costs for you.

• Borax – $2.99
• Washing Soda – $2.99
• Fels Naptha Soap – $0.97
• 75oz bottle of Tide – $7.00 (I used a coupon for this price, so watch those coupons for the best deals)

And, since you only need one cup of both the borax & washing soda, your costs are actually cheaper than that since one box will last for several batches.

This is safe for regular washers AND HE washers!  Just make sure you purchase the HE version of Tide for the HE washing machines.

It’s so simple to put this together… Let me show you how!

Here’s what you will need:

First thing to do is to shred up 1 bar of Fels Naptha soap with a cheese grater.  You can also use Zote or pure castile soap if you want.

Add the shredded soap to a pot along with 4 cups of water.

Heat on medium/high heat, stirring occasionally, until it is completely melted.

Meanwhile, measure out 1 cup of both the Borax & Super Washing Soda.

Fill up a 5 gallon bucket halfway with hot water.  Pour the melted soap/water mixture into the bucket & stir.  Then add in the borax & washing soda. Stir again.  If you want any added scent power, then you can mix in several drops of your favorite essential oil.  No exact amount, I just keep adding drops until I feel satisfied with the scent.  My favorite scents for homemade detergent are orange & lavender.

Add more hot water, filling up the bucket to a little more than 3/4 of the way full.  Put a lid on it, and let it sit for 24 hours to gel.  Now, it will not gel the same way as your typical storebought detergent.  

**It will be more of a egg noodle soup consistency…a little watery with gel-glops throughout.  This is how it should look!!**

Now, if you let it sit for longer than 24 hours, it will gel into a jell-o like consistency.  If this happens, don’t worry – just mix it up really well to break it up.  I’ve heard from a reader that she actually lets hers sit for that long on purpose, and then mixes it up with her immersion blender – and she said that the consistency is much smoother like this, more comparable to what you see in store-bought detergent.  I don’t have an immersion blender, so I haven’t tried this yet – but if one of you do try it, let me know how it works for you! Whichever way you do it though, the cleaning power is the same!

Now, its time to add in the Tide.

Pour in the whole container & give it a good stirring to mix it up.

That’s it – you’re done!

Now, you can leave it in the bucket – or you can divide it into empty containers of your choice.  I usually make a couple of batches at once, and I’ll fill up 2-3 empty laundry containers, and store the buckets elsewhere… refilling the containers as needed.

Use 1/2 cup for a regular large load.

So, there you have it!  I hope you all love this version as much as I do!!

If you don’t care whether you have Tide in your detergent, you can also check out the original version here.

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