Homemade laundry detergent: powdered or liquid?

[FrugalGranolaMom]

I am nearing the end of my current bottle of store bought laundry detergent and I am going to finally make up a batch of homemade stuff. I've seen a lot of recipes out there, some for powdered and some for liquid. My question for those of you who make your own is do you have a preference? Are they equally effective? Is one form more cost effective than the other?

[ALittleBitCrunchy]

We use powdered. It's easier and we're laundry lazy :) We grate some Zote soap, meaure out washing soda and borax and shake it up in a jar. The liquid would require actual work so we've never tried it.

[34me]

Another vote for powdered. It also takes up lesss room to store. I have a front loader and put it in the cup and chase it down with hot water.

[FrugalGranolaMom]

Thanks for the input! Powdered it is!

[Mom2SammyJoe]

I do liquid. It is cheaper and I worry that the powder would not dissolve in the wash.

[jillyofthevalley]

I prefer the powdered.  It's easy to make (my 11 year old just made up our last batch), easier to store (not to mention prettier sitting on the shelf in the glass canister as opposed to a 5 gallon bucket on the floor LOL) and it dissolves just fine in the wash.

[homemademom]

Powdered here. I use this recipe, but sub out Dr. Bronner's baby bar soap (unscented) for the one she uses. 

[LeahBoo]

I just made up my first batch.  I made powdered because I don't have enough room to store a 5 gallon bucket (really small apartment).  I think after this batch, I am going to try a different soap, the Fels Naptha is awfully fragrant.  I will probably go with something like an old fashioned lye/lard soap, since that's what people used before detergent.  

Now I have to pass along a really cool tip.  Don't grate the soap, microwave it (if you have a microwave).  It expands a whole bunch and afterward, you can crumble it into the perfect fine powder.

[Imakcerka]

Microwave it?  Im trying that even if I don't make my own detergent!
 

Originally Posted by LeahBoo 

I just made up my first batch.  I made powdered because I don't have enough room to store a 5 gallon bucket (really small apartment).  I think after this batch, I am going to try a different soap, the Fels Naptha is awfully fragrant.  I will probably go with something like an old fashioned lye/lard soap, since that's what people used before detergent.  

Now I have to pass along a really cool tip.  Don't grate the soap, microwave it (if you have a microwave).  It expands a whole bunch and afterward, you can crumble it into the perfect fine powder.

[LeahBoo]

Yup!  Google it, tons of youtube videos :)

[LeahBoo]

Ok, so I just learned that you can't microwave Kirks Castile soap.  It burns.