Homemade Laundry Detergent

My bucket of homemade laundry detergent (above).
(Below) The consistency of pudding, the smell of roses.

The ingredients (above) for my homemade laundry detergent.

A semi-frequent topic of the Uncoolest Dude in Hollywood is my love/hate relationship with laundry and my laundry Room. Being a cheap man and always concerned I am being ripped off, I decided to investigate that whole racket known as laundry detergent. Sure, you need soap to clean your things, even the ancient Assyrians knew that (my pre-teen boys could give a pretty decent argument against the use of soap, but that is another post entirely). But I've never been convinced that the stuff has to be that expensive. It's just soap. To clean clothes. C'mon!

So being the goober that I am, I went on a quest to find out how to make my own laundry detergent, how hard could it be?

I found a recipe HERE that I've been using ever since. I found another recipe that looks a little better but I haven't been sure whether or not I want to use my food processor for soap. The recipe I chose is really, really, easy to make and takes only about 20 minutes so that's the one I've been using.

The jury is still out on how good it cleans. My wife isn't all that happy with the results, particularly on white clothes. Everything smells peachy, but the whites aren't very white. I've been using bleach with the whites, which kind of seems old school to me, but bleach none-the-less.

Now, as I've read this post, I feel like I've definitely gone over some type of edge in terms of Uncoolness. I'm making my own laundry detergent. I'm testing it. I've got supplies and recipes and a spouse willing to give it a shot. I'm like the old men in the rocking chair arguing over motor oil.

I am a Hollywood hipster, I am a Hollywood hipster... chant with me!