Recently I have become infatuated with Pintrest. In my spare time I love getting craft ideas that I can do at home and actually doing them. Recently I found a recipe for homemade laundry detergent, with 3 basic ingredients.
Borax, Super Washing Soda, and Fels Naphtha laundry soap. It's 1 cup of Borax, 1 cup of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, and 1 bar of grated Fels Naphtha Soap (usually around $1, and I used a cheese grater) and theres a bath of laundry soap. It doesn't look like a ton but it smells so clean and fresh and one batch of homemade laundry detergent is about 40 loads of laundry, talk about getting your money's worth. It's 1 tablespoon per load. I took this picture from Pintrest but this about how much a batch makes.
One box of borax and one box of Super Washing Soda makes about 5 batches of homemade laundry detergent so you definitely get a run for your money!