I do laundry every day... almost.

I go through a pretty decent amount of laundry detergent.  And some of the store bought stuff has scents that make me want to throw up.  There may be some psychological reasons, but still.  Who wants to want to throw up from their own clean clothes.  Not me.  And I know they have unscented.  Not enough people use that (I did most of the time before I started this.)

I started doing this way before Pinterest.  I got it from a friend...  And the original site no longer exists. And I am not spending the rest of my night looking for a link to the exact recipe.

This makes 4 gallons!  Which lasts me about 3 months-ish.  That's for an average of 7 loads a week.  And I dont measure.

First you will need: 

Borax. 
Washing Soda. 
Fels Naptha soap (you dont really have to, it sounds like you can use whatever soap you want.  Fels Naptha was in the original recipe and I stuck with it.  I tried Ivory once because I heard it was more gentle on super sensitive skin (like new babies), but I didnt see the difference, and this was just fine on my super fair/sensitive skinned littles... even on Tristan as a fresh newborn- never a problem!)
(Baking soda is optional, I usually use some)
Water, of course.
And four 1-gallon jugs.  (the original site said to put it in a 5 gallon bucket- but then you have to stir the WHOLE THING every time. No thanks.)

The biggest pot I have holds about a gallon.  So I fill that up with water and start heating it.  It should get to boiling, or close enough.  That takes a while so we have plenty of time to get things ready.  So..
 Real Step #1

Chop/ grate/ whatever the soap.  Do it because I said so.  And because then it melts way easier when you are mixing it into boiling water.  Stir, stir, stir.  Probably turn the heat down some.  Because Step # 2 will make it overflow.  Or at least it does for me when I forget to turn the heat down.  Which is every time except this last time. For real.  Once it's dissolved...
Step #2. 1 cup of Washing soda. Mix, mix, mix. Blow on it. Again, so it doesnt boil over. Or dont. Maybe that's just what I do.
Step #3. 1 Cup Borax. Stir some more.
Note: You dont have to be stirring this whole time.  But dont let it sit too long either.
If you want, you can add some Baking soda.  Up to a cup, I suppose.  I usually just use whatever is left in a little box and/or my container that I use for cleaning.

Ok. Turn the stove off.  Do you have your gallon jugs ready?  I put some water (usually about 4 cups) of room temp/cool water in them.  Because I do not want the insanely hot soap mix melting the thin plastic.  And then I start to evenly distribute the detergent.

I decided- after doing this for so many years- that it's easier to add water to the cooling pot of soap (after each on get the same amount) to dilute it more than it is to top off the jugs.  Which I dont do that anymore either.  It separates and gets globby.  Especially since my house is a little chilly. So.  With the extra room, I can shake it up and then add hot water (and shake some more) before I use each gallon.  Much easier than trying to shake up a full gallon of jelly.
And do make it a full gallon before using it!
Then I shake it before each use because it's not hard to do that when it's only one gallon at a time.  I think you're supposed to use about 1/2 a cup in each full load.  I just pour it around the bottom while the water is going in .

For fabric softener, I use... vinegar!  It does NOT stink. I promise! I put it straight in the fabric softener thing in the washer. It kills more germs and it really does soften our clothes.... better than not using anything.  I started doing this part when we were using cloth diapers.  (The waxy build up in the washer from store bought fabric softener- even if not used in the same load- can build up on the diapers and make them less absorbent.  NOT GOOD for the little ones. Or the mamas.)  And even though it's been almost a year since I've washed diapers, I still do it for our clothes.

I suppose if you are someone who needs your clothes to smell like something, you could put a few drops of essential oil in.  I dont. Because they are expensive and I'm okay with our clothes just being clean without smelling like anything.  Except when it's warm out and I hang it on the line outside... Mmmm that's my favorite.

Anyways.  I get questions about this one.  So let me know if you have any!
Good luck!