Homemade Laundry and Dishwasher Soap

I don't know about you all, but the cost of laundry detergent and dish washing soap has become so expensive I dread buying them...even when they're on sale and I have coupons.  Since little buddy came along I've also been much more conscience about what's IN the dishwasher soap and laundry detergent, which makes it even more expensive.  So I went out to Pinterest in search of all natural, chemical free alternatives...and found some great ones!

It basically only took 5 ingredients and $12 to make LOTS both items.
1)  Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
2) Borax (which by the way you can use for all kinds of stuff around the house)
3) A bar of Fels-Neptha (you can also use Dove soap)
4) Lemi Shine
5) Kosher Salt (which I already have, so I didn't have to buy)

Laundry Detergent:
I started with the laundry detergent and followed another blogger I found at YellowBrickHome.  I have to say the grating of the Fels-Neptha took a little while, but it smelled delish - very fresh and clean, I can't wait to wash laundry with it!

After I finished grating the soap I added 1 cup of Washing Soda and 1 cup of Borax and mixed it all together.

 I then put it in an empty oxiclean box, but I may upgrade to a pretty jar or something.  It takes only 1 tablespoon per load!  If you have a HE washer, like me, then just add it directly into your tub before you start your wash.  You can also make liquid detergent if you'd rather, but I've found lately  that powder gets things cleaner and keeps my washer cleaner.

I can't wait to use it in my laundry!

Dishwasher Detergent:
The dishwasher detergent was pretty easy as well.  I found the recipe at Simply Designing, but I cut the recipe in half cause I just didn't need that much dishwasher soap.  I simply measured out the ingredients and dumped them all in a bowl.  She mentions that the Lemi Shine will get hard, so to leave it out and keep stirring it for a few days...so I'm still in the middle of that process.  I'm excited to use the dish washing soap and see if it really eliminates the spots on my glasses!

Overall both products were super EASY and super CHEAP!  Plus I'm loving that it's all natural and chemical free, especially for baby clothes and bottles.  This might be my new favorite baby shower gift!