Laundry detergent is essential in every household. I have to wash my work clothes every day or every other day. That's between three to seven loads a week. I am a broke college student and laundry detergent is not cheap. Therefore, I began looking for an alternative.

According to this article, the average American spends between $180-$600 on Laundry detergent per year! That is an outrageous amount of money. I found a recipe that only cost $30 and lasts almost an entire year. The website I got the information from is, https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fpin.i.... The woman who wrote the article has a family of five. She uses this recipe and it lasts her almost a whole year! It may last even longer for me since I am only doing laundry for one!

Another reason for homemade laundry detergent is that regular detergent happens to be filled with tons of chemicals. Also, most people buy laundry detergent once a month. That is twelve plastic containers. This homemade detergent is only a few cardboard boxes. Is there anything better than making your carbon footprint smaller? This homemade detergent is less plastic and less chemicals. Homemade laundry detergent is a great way to avoid the issues that come with store bought detergent.

Here is a photo of the recipe. I followed it almost to a tee. I used eight pounds of baking soda, eight pound of washing soda, seven pounds of Oxiclean, and two bars of Zote.

So, once I found the recipe I was ready to try it out. I went to the store and gathered up all my supplies. The total cost was around thirty dollars. I got all my supplies at Walmart. Everything I needed was on the laundry detergent aisle.

This is my receipt from Walmart! Personal photo

Pretty cheap for a year supply of detergent. I am saving at least $130 based on statistics.

After buying my supplies, it was time to mix it all together. The first thing that has to be done it grating the Zote soap bars. I used a cheese grater. Once the soap is grated, it is time to mix it with everything else. I think the best thing to mix it in one of those big plastic storage containers. Trust me, you are gonna need the room. It makes a lot. I filled up three coffee containers and a small cooler. Once everything is mixed together, it smells super fresh.

This is the three coffee containers and the small cooler that I filled up. Personal Photo

The biggest test was actually using it! The first load of laundry I used it on was towels. The towels came out nice and clean. They did not have a scent, but they did smell fresh. If you wanted your laundry to have a fragrance, you could add essential oils. Then I used it on actual clothes and got the same result. I have made, tested, and approved this recipe! I hope you will give this a try. Save yourself some money and save the environment too.