Homemade Laundry Detergent

Inspired by Green Cleaning: Natural Hints and Tips--a book I picked up at Barnes and Noble, I've been gradually phasing out the chemicals in my house in favor of baking soda, vinegar, lemons, salt and essential oils.

This week I decided to try a recipe I found online for homemade laundry detergent. Apparently, this is now "a thing" since when I went to Walmart for supplies, they were all located beside each other on the laundry aisle.

The recipe.
3 cups Borax
3 cups Washing Soda
3 bars of soap (The site I saw suggested Fels Naptha--which is what I tried, but the scent is strong, so next batch I plan on Ivory.)
About 15 drops of essential oil for scent. (I used lavender.)

The bars of soap have to be grated--so I broke out my Salad Shooter in order to do 3 bars quickly. Then I simply mixed everything together in a big bowl and put in an airtight jar. 

As the book I read suggested, I used distilled white vinegar as a rinse agent, and I have two dryer balls--which I use instead of fabric sheets. 

The results were better than I'd hoped.  The towels smelled really clean as I pulled them from the washer and I liked the way they felt coming out of the dryer.