My Daughter's Homemade Laundry Detergent Science Project

Store Bought Vs. Homemade Laundry Detergent

My 5th Grade Science Experiment

{From Amy's 5th Grade Daughter}

Question:

Does Homemade laundry detergent work better than store-bought laundry detergent?

Hypotheses:

My Hypothesis is that the home made laundry detergent will work better than the store bought laundry detergent.

Experiment

To Make Homemade Laundry Detergent:

1. I grated 1 bar of soap.

2. Then I brought 1 gallon of water to boil in a large pot.

3. Then, I put the grated soap into the pot, and stirred until dissolved.

4. I added once cup of Borax Powder and 1 cup of Washing Soda into the pot.

5. I turned the heat down and stirred until combined.

6. Once cooled, I stirred it again and put into containers.

 Materials

A large spoon, large pot, measuring cups, grater, containers to store detergent, labels, water, borax, powder, washing soda, bar of soap.

Constants:

1. Both shirts were stained with 3 stains.  Strawberry jelly, BBQ Sauce, and Spaghetti Sauce.

2. Both shirts were washed in hot water on the same washing cycle.

Variable:

The second shirt stain set longer, due to the amount of time the first shirt took to wash.

I washed the 2nd shirt in 'All' Clothes Detergent.

Research:

www.whynotsew.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-to-detergent.html

According to Why Not Sew, the estimated cost is $6.00 for 576 loads.  That is quite the savings!

"Using a bar of Ivory soap makes our cloth diapers come out so white!  You'd think I'd bleached them.  They have no odors, no dinginess, just super bright whites."--Pinterest Reader Who Used This Recipe

Conclusion

My hypothesis was wrong.  Store bought laundry detergent works just slightly better than homemade laundry detergent, at least on the stains.  Homemade laundry detergent seemed to make the shirt as a whole whiter, though.  My mom and I decided that due to the savings, and how easy it was to make, that we would continue to make our own homemade laundry detergent!

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Recipe For Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent
from Why Not Sew {click through for step by step pics}

1 bar of soap (any kind you want, I used Ivory)
1 cup of Borax
1 cup of washing soda
a big pot (that holds more than 2 gallons)
2 empty gallon jugs/containers

Grate your bar of soap into your pot.  Fill one gallon jug and pour water into pot with grated soap. Cook until the grated soap dissolves. Add the Borax and washing soda. Bring to a boil. It will coagulate. Turn off the heat. Add 1 gallon of cold water. Stir well. Pour 1 gallon of your detergent into each container.


Now you have 2 gallons of homemade laundry detergent. I use 1/2 cup per load. With the prices of detergent being outrageous, I feel really happy every time I make a batch of this.


This won't make many, if any, suds. Suds don't equal clean. It took a while to get that into my head. This detergent cleans wonderfully!


Hints From Why Not Sew:


* I now just keep my detergent in the pot I cook it in with the lid on. When I run out I make up a new batch in that pot and it's ready to go. I like saving the step of transferring into the jugs.

*if the detergent becoming too thick, try using 1/2 of a bar of soap instead.

*the detergent should thicken / coagulate when it cools. Usually within 24 hours!