I found these on another site and am going to try them... as soon as I use up what I have on hand. Thought some of you might enjoy them too!

Liquid Laundry Detergents
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Recipe #1
3 Pints Water
1/3 Bar Fels Naptha Soap, Grated
1/2 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Borax
2 Gallon Bucket
1 Quart Hot Water
Cold Water
Mix Fels Naptha soap in a saucepan with 3 pints of water, and heat on low until dissolved. Stir in Washing Soda and Borax. Stir until thickened, and remove from heat. Add 1 Quart Hot Water to 2 Gallon Bucket. Add soap mixture, and mix well. Fill bucket with cold water, and mix well. Set aside for 24 hours, or until mixture is gelled. Use 1/2 cup of mixture per load.

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Recipe #2
1 Cup Soap Flakes
1/2 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Borax
2 Tablespoons Glycerin
2 Cups Water
Mix all three ingredients together. Add glycerin and water. Use 1/2 - 3/4 cup per load. Best when used with cold or warm water.

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Recipe #3
Water
1 Bar Soap - Any Brand, Grated
5 Gallon Bucket
1 Cup Washing Soda
4 1/2 Gallons Water
Place grated soap in a small saucepan and cover with water. Heat on low until dissolved. Fill bucket with hot water, and add soap. Stir to combine. Add 1 cup washing soda and mix well. As it cools it will thicken. May be used immediately. Use 1-2 cups per load.

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Powdered Laundry Detergent

1 Cup Soap Flakes
1/2 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Borax
For light load, use 1 cup. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 cups.

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TIPS
• Liquid detergent can also be used as a pretreater for stains.
• Deodorant Soaps and Beauty Bars can be substituted for regular bar soap.
• Essential Oils can be added to soap for fragrance.

FINDING INGREDIENTS
• Fels Naptha is in the bar soap aisle at your regular supermarket. I have found it in my area at Publix.
• Washing Soda is made by Arm & Hammer. It comes in a 55 ounce yellow box. This is not the same as baking soda. It is found in the laundry detergent aisle of your supermarket. If you are having trouble locating this product, you may want to ask your local store manager to order it for you. It may be helpful to provide the UPC number: 33200-03020. To see what the package looks like, click here.
• Borax is usually made by these brand names: MULETEAM or BORATEEM. It is also found on the laundry detergent aisle.
• Ivory Snow used to make soap flakes, but I think that they have stopped making them. To make your own soap flakes just grate a bar of Ivory soap. (Hint: let your kids do this part!)

COMPARING PRICES (Approximate)
Fels Naptha Soap $.90 - $1.00 per bar
Borax $2.99 per box
Washing Soda $1.99 per box
• Each box of Borax and Washing Soda will yield 30 gallons of laundry soap mix. 5 bars of soap will yeild 30 gallons. (Buy your soap on sale, and save even more!)
• It costs $9.48 to make 30 gallons of homemade mix.
• That is approximately $.30 per gallon!
• 1 gallon of pre-made, store-bought detergent can cost between $4.00-$7.00. If you normally pay $5.00 per gallon, after making 30 gallons of your own mix, you will save $141.00!!!

THE RESPONSES:

• Just a reminder for those with septic tanks. Soap flakes aren't good for your septic tank or bed. They can clog up your system. ( I've seen it, in a friend's yucky mess, and it was very expensive!!)

  Also soap flakes will put a layer of "fats" on your clothes. Not a real big deal, except that it decreases their absorbancy of moisture. I've read that it is good for some covers. But it is BAD for diapers. The urine wisks across the diaper and out instead of being absorbed into the diaper.

• I had forgotten about that! I was on a diaper list for a while though and many of those women recommended grated soap for the diapers. Do you think the recipe for liquid would be ok? This really isn't a problem for me cause our washer doesn't drain into our septic tank. It has its own gravel pit dug for it. Right now though it just runs down the hill. I have the greenest grass there. This is an old house and when we bought it our bank wasn't doing inspections. It probably would never have passed if they did. It needs soooo much work. But we love it!

• Soaps are oil based either animal fat or vegetable fat. It is these fats/oils that are absorbed into the material and then repel water vs absorbing it. Detergents don't have the oil or fat so this doesn't happen.

• Is soap in general not okay, or just soap flakes in the laundry? Anybody want to give me the two-minute lecture on the care and feeding of septic tanks?We haven't lived anywhere with a septic tank since I've been old enough to care, but our new place does have one. Are there things I should be wary of? Should we not use soap at all, or just not soap flakes in the laundry? Is regular laundry detergant okay? (Our washer warns us against using liquid detergant for some reason, so I *hope* powder's okay!)

• Our last house and the one we built both have septic so we have had one for 12 years!! Soap flakes are BAD, BAD, BAD. They can clog up the septic BED. We helped a friend who had bought a house and was having problems with the plumbing. DH & I got into the crawl space and took out a piece of pipe. It was crammed with IVORY SNOW detergent. I mean crammed!! It had done the same thing to the septic bed and ruined it. They had to replace all the weeping tiles and pipes in the septic bed )$5000.00 Cdn).

  The soaps that you use to bathe with are usually fine. I did read that Dove isn't great though due to the moisturizers in it. The same with shampoos. What you also want to avoid is phosphates. I believe ALL liquid detergents have phosphates. You can buy phosphate free laundry detergents. Tide has one, but also avoid deteregents with bleach. So you want one that is BOTH bleach and phosphate free. They affect the flora of the tank. Also there may be phosphates in your dishwashing detergent (powder and/or liquid ). Also AVOID bleach. It kills the good bacteria in the tank as well. Bleach comes alone of course, but also it is found in many laundry detergents and also in dishwashing detergents. You will have to read the individual ingredient lists of the products. Never put paint, or oils/fats down the drain as they also can clog up the system. Extra paint can be taken to a recycling area for proper disposal. If there is only a bit left you can leave it to dry out in the can and then put it in the garbage. Oils or fats should be put into a container into the garbage. (I think that is where the habit of putting grease in a jar in the cupboard under the sink came from.) It is best to use one-ply toilet paper and don't put 3 ply facial tissue (kleenex) in the toilet.

  We use organic non-phosphate laundry detergent and vinegar for a rinse agent. We use organic vegetable-based body soap and organic shampoo (use it for my legs when I get spiffied up and shave my legs) and conditioner (all scent and colour free). We use a non-chlorine bleach on the occasions we need it, but usually just put our "whites" out on the clothes-line to whiten them. On the rare occasion we need to use bleach, I use a very small amount and never put it down the drain, but instead put it in a container into the garbage. I clean the tubs, sinks, toilets with baking soda, vinegar and an organic "cleaning lotion." This particular cleaning lotion can be used to wash the car, take residue off fruits/veggies, dishes, as a septic "safe" liquid laundry detergent or spot treatment. I even use one "squirt" in our dishwasher. The manufacturer warns against using liquid hand dishwashing deteregents as they are high foaming. The product we use is NOT high foaming!! We use vinegar to clean our hardwood and linoleum floors as well as for the windows. Vinegar is great at taking off the hard-water stains on stainless steel or porcelain or fiber-glass, etc.

  My 11 month old babies have never had shampoo, conditioner or soap. Just good old well water!! (Oh wait I did use a bit of soap on their feet after "stamping" their foot-prints on the placenta prints I made!!

  If you call your local health-unit they may have a list of "do's and don'ts" for the health of your septic tank.