This recipe was given to me by my friend Jessica Voge. She uses this herself and says its really cheap, works just as well as any other laundry soap, and smells great. According to the website listed below this soap is also compatible with high efficiency washers too. I will be trying this out soon and will post my person review after I do. It might cost you more to buy the ingredients than it would to buy laundry soap but it will last you quite a lot longer since you'll have enough to make multiple batches. The only differences between this and the store bought stuff is water.
http://www.diynatural.com/simple-easy-fast-effective-jabs-homemade-laundry-detergent/  


Anyway, here is the recipe:
SIMPLE INGREDIENTSI purchased all these ingredients at my local grocery store:
All items were found in the laundry isle.


  1. Grate soap with fine grade cheese grater.
  2. Add 1 cup Borax.
  3. Add 1 cup Washing Soda.
  4. Stir till throughly combined, should look like regular powdered laundry detergent.
  5. Use 1 tblspn of detergent per load. 1-2 for heavily soiled loads.