Homemade laundry detergent

On MSN Money's SmartSpending Moneyblog, they had an article about homemade laundry detergent today.
http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/smartspending/archive/2009/04/17/the-lowdown-on-homemade-detergent.aspx
I myself have been making my own laundry detergent according to a recipe I found on this website:
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm
It is a lot cheaper than my regular detergent. For the recipe you basically cook soap, washing soda and borax together and let it gel. It works ok for me. I can't really claim that I notice much of a difference compared to the HE laundry detergent that I used to buy.
I have however changed Crystal's laundry soap recipe, mostly to make sure that it really would deliver. Usually I use a whole bar of soap and I use whatever all natural castille soap I can find cheapest. For my last batch it happened to be Kiss my Face Soap. I doubled the washing soda and the borax. The final detergent actually has a really jelly like consistency.
Since I have a HE machine, I usually dump two scoops of the jelly directly into the drum. The first time I used it I didn't and the jelly actually clogged up the washing machine's dispenser chamber. That was scary. The incoming water kept gushing out of it and onto the floor and I feared to have mucked up our relatively new washing machine. (My dh didn't say anything, but I could tell what he was thinking.) Thankfully it eventually cleared out.
What I also do to make laundry more gentle to the environment is sorting my laundry according what needs to be washed hot (Mostly only kitchen rags and bedsheets, since I am allergic to dust mites.), warm (Stuff with ingrained and greasy stains and underwear. The borax is antibacterial and will render the underwear hygienic enough.) and cold (Everything else. Stuff with superficial stains and stuff that smells worn.), regardless of colors. Greasy stains will get a little pretreatment. I either rub in some detergent or use a stain stick.
Like I said, it works and it is cheaper. And probably much easier on the environment.
Finally, I try to airdry my laundry as often as possible. Out knuckelhead homeowner's association has outlawed clothing lines, but we have a walk up attic and I hang my laundry there. It needs a little bit of planning, to make sure that the hanging laundry has dried before you bring up a new load, but so far it works ok. Last week, I only needed to use the dryer once.
Since I am 30 weeks pregnant, I don't know how long I can keep doing this.