Powdered Laundry Detergent

1 c. Borax

1 c. Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1 bar of laundry soap, grated (I used Fels Neptha)

• Grate the laundry bar.  
• Add the Borax and washing soda, mix it together and put into an airtight container. 

Use 1-2 T. per load.  I use 2T. on really dirty loads and 1T. for the lighter stuff.  Translation?  2T. on the kids’ clothes and 1T. on mine.

Source
Notes:

• I used a bar of Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap the first time (thanks, Trader Joe's!).  It grated nicely and had a pleasant, kind of minty smell.  Looks like they make other scents as well.  This time I used Fels Naptha just to try it out and because I can get it any any Walmart or grocery store around here for under a buck.  Either works.
• I used my food processor to grate the soap - fine shredder blade, going slowly to grate it as fine as possible.
• Then I switched to the chopping blade in the bowl and added the other 2 ingredients.  This made everything an even finer consistency and mixed it.
• I'm storing it in a mason jar with a dedicated tablespoon measure.
• I'm kind of liking this version better than the other liquid recipe I've made for the past year or so.  It's much less trouble to make and store.  The ingredients are identical, so it seems to work just as well for me.

Homemade Laundry Soap

1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
~You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan.  Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts.  Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved.  Remove from heat.  Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket.   Now add your soap mixture and stir.  Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir.  Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel.  You use ½ cup per load.

**A few things to note about the soap**

~The finished soap will not be a solid gel.  It will be more of a watery gel that has been accurately described as an "egg noodle soup" look.

~The soap is a low sudsing soap.  So if you don’t see suds, that is ok.  Suds are not what does the cleaning, it is the ingredients in the soap.

MY NOTES:

• I've made this 3-4 times now and it seems to be working well with our water and machine.  I probably should note that I really don't have any regular laundry challenges like cloth diapers, super hard water, or really dirty work clothes.  It has met all my usual challenges like grass stains, etc. though.
• It has a pleasant, clean smell.  As suggested, I added lavender and orange oil to the first batch, but it really wasn't a notable improvement, so I've skipped the expense since then.
• I'm not sure why the directions say to add water in these crazy increments.  The first time is obvious - a smaller amount so I can make sure everything is dissolved.  After that, just dump it in.  There are 2 gallons total.
• After it cools, there will be a very gelled layer.  I just hit it with the immersion blender to mix it all together before transferring it to my empty laundry jugs.
• Easy-peasy.  Practically free.
• Source  (Word of warning though, its crazy colors, multiple fonts, and "cute" laundry graphics make it a challenge to read.  That's the main reason why I transferred it here.)