Washing detergent is pretty expensive for what it is. If you're tired of paying extra for perfumes, dye, and brand names, you can save a bundle by making your own in larger batches. Photo by D'Arcy Norman.
Whipping up a batch of washing detergent isn't complex chemistry, and it saves you the money the leading brands spend on advertising, and the store brands cut into margins. TipNut.com posts 10 recipes for laundry detergent, the cheapest costing only pennies per load of clothes. The dry recipes are much easier and less time-consuming; the liquid recipes involve melting soap and mixing in hot water and other elements, but give you finer control over the results, and fragrance. If you've ever wanted your clothes to come out of the washer with a hint of mint, here's your shot.
If DIY Downey isn't worth your time but the savings are intriguing, try reducing the amount of detergent you use. I found in my experiments that reducing the suggested amount of detergent by 60% left my clothes cleaner and fresher-smelling. You've also got a lot of other cheap, easy laundry optimizations available—making your own phosphate-free detergent, speeding up laundry with tennis balls, and the way to do laundry once, the right way.