Make Your Own Laundry Detergent
But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner’s fire
And like launderers’ soap.
Malachi 3:2
When I first read about making homemade laundry soap, I was excited but skeptical. Would it save me any money? (Yes!). Would it take a lot of time? (About 15 minutes per batch). Would our clothes look clean and smell good? (Yes!) Would it cause problems for our washing machine? (No).
So, when we decided to do it, we took pictures of all the steps along the way so you can see how easy it is and what things should look like along the way.
We purchased three ingredients at a total cost of under $11.00. This will make 8 batches of liquid laundry soap.
Soap (You need one bar per batch). We chose Ivory. If you use Fels Naptha, you will use less, about 1/3 of a bar.
Arm and Hammer Washing Powders (Available in the laundry area)
20 Mule Team Borax (Available in the laundry area)
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| Step One: Shred, chop or shave your soap into small pieces. |
| Step Two: Measure and start heating water. You will need 6 cups of water heated to melt the soap in a sauce pan. Add the soap and water to the pan. |
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| Step Three: Once the soap is all dissolved, you stir in half a cup of Borax and half a cup of Arm and Hammer Washing Powder. Stir over the heat until it is all dissolved. |
| Step Four: Remove from heat and pour into a large bucket. I used a five gallon bucket, but a smaller bucket would have been just fine. |
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| Step Five: Add four cups more of hot water to the bucket and stir until well blended. |
| Step Six: Add one gallon plus six cups of cold water to the mixture. Mix well. Let sit for 24 hours. |
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| Store it in your old laundry soap bottle or other plastic container for easy pouring. |
| Ready to use! I used 1/4 of a cup because I have a high efficiency machine. Most would probably use half a cup. It looks like a liquid gel. |
| Questions |
| What about scent? If you want a scent other than the soap smell, you can add 1/2 - 1 oz of essential oils. I have not tried that yet because I have a daughter with Asthma, and I wanted to try a batch with no scent first. |
| There are no suds. Is it cleaning? This has low suds, so if you open the washer and look you will not see a lot of suds. |
| Does it clean and deodorize well? Our laundry smells good and clean. The results are very good. So far we have not been unhappy with any loads. |
| How much are you saving? Based on us using liquid Tide from Sam’s Club, I estimate that I spent 8 cents per load (I use half as much as the bottle recommends). Using my homemade soap I will spend half a cent per load. It takes less than 15 minutes to make. |
| Will I still need dryer sheets or fabric softener? I still use dryer sheets. |
| Where did you learn to make your own laundry soap? I saw several sets of directions on different websites and looked around for the most commonly used ingredients and instructions. Once I decided to try it, I took pictures along the way to share for people just learning like me. One website actually sells the individual ingredients pre-measured if you do not want to buy a whole box of ingredients yourself. If you are interested in trying that, see the following website. http://crystalscountrystore.com/laundryroom.htm |
About the Author
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Hi Malia and family,
We moved out to the country almost 2 year ago and having been working to become self sufficient. We have homeschooled for 5 years and have a garden each year. This year we will be starting a small orchard … We will be getting chickens this year also. Your website has been such a blessing … and I especially love the recipe for laundry detergent. We made some and have loved it. I have passed your recipe along to friends to share this wealth of information. Thank you for this ministry you are doing to help keep our life simple.
AWESOME! This is so cool. I used lavender essential oil in mine and it smells like summer! Grace (my 5yo) helped me make it (the older boys got in on it, too). I’ve sent kits to my nieces and nephews to make their own batch. They’ll be so excited to receive them!
My friend Lisa (www.HomesteadOriginals.com) does this also - I’ve yet to try it though as I prefer to use dry detergent (powder). So I just use Arm & Hammer’s powder detergent for now. I wonder if there’s any difference between that and just combining the Borax and Arm & Hammer powder above?
Good question. I have not personally used the dry version of this recipe. I have read many good reviews about it. If you want to try it dry here are the directions I have found out on the internet. I think this recipe comes from thriftyfun.com It is very similar to many others I have seen. I have always used liquid detergent due to sensitive skin issues in our family. If you try the powder, let me know how you like it!
The recipe for the laundry soap is as follows.
* 1 c. shredded or grated bar soap. (Use the food processor to shred the little soap bars from motels, or buy soap at dollar store.
* 1/2 c. Arm and Hammer Washing Powders
* 1/2 c. borax
Use only 1 tablespoon.
Malia,
A question about the recipe for liquid soap - how much is 1 batch? You directed to use 1/2 c. per load with a regular load washer. I was wondering how many loads I could wash per batch. I am already using a fairly inexpensive soap (Era), but believe I can do better with the homemade.
Love your site. Rhonda
Thanks for stopping by my site, Rhonda. It makes around two gallons. Let me know what you think about the price compare to Era. I only compared it to the brand I was currently using.
Malia,
I just wanted to thank you for your detail account of making the laundry soap. My mother-in-law and I tried it, and it worked great. That was a brilliant suggestion to shave all the soap, while you have it all out. Thanks for sharing!
Julie:
Thank you for stopping by to let me know of your success! I know it will save you money. I sure appreciated walking past the laundry detergent aisle at the grocery store yesterday! Have you tried adding essential oils for scent, or did you just use the soap smell? We have not tried adding any scent yet.
God bless,
Malia
I just made a powdered laundry soap. works great…..
1 bar of soap ( I used Colgate laundry soap) grated fine
2 cups A&H washing powder
2 cups Borax
mix and keep in a sealed container best thing is you only use 1-2 tablespoons per wash load!
Janet: Terrific! Thank you for sharing. Are you using any fabric softeners or dryer sheets?
Thank you for stopping by my site today.
Malia
Thanks for this great info. I’ve been using borax and baking soda (about 1/2 cup each because I have really hard water) and instead of using fabric softener, I use plain vinegar during the rinse cycle. My washer has a place to put in fabric softener at the beginning so I don’t have to remember to go back and add it during the rinse. It has worked great!
Hi:
One of the questions in this newsletter asked what to store your soap in after making it. I use 5 quart ice cream buckets. We had quite a few and they have covers that fit well.
I love the soap. It smells so good and fresh. Will make it from now on.
Carol Leighton
Hey Malia! I REALLY want to make the laundry detergent, but I don’t have a food processor. Any suggestions? I guess I could borrow one from somebody if needed. Also, I had a recipe for making dishwasher (machine) detergent (1 part baking soda, 1 part borax), but it left a horrible residue on my dishes. It got so bad that I would have to rinse the dishes after taking them out of the dishwasher. I went back to buying Seventh Generation. Do you have another recipe that may work better? Thanks! Erin Zinser
Hey Erin:
Thanks for stopping by my site today! You can use a hand cheese grater. You can also just use a butcher knife and slice it thinly. It is just to help facilitate the melting process. I suppose you could even leave it whole and melt it in the water that way, but it would be time intensive.
I agree about the dishwashing detergent. We tried one that was part borak and part arm and hammer washing powders and did not like the residue. I need to research that further. If I come up with something, I will let you know.
Blessings,
Malia
I haven’t found Arm & Hammer Washing Powders, only Arm & Hammer Washing Soda. Here in the Minneapolis area, I’ve checked at Rainbow Foods (Roundys is the store brand), Cub Foods and Sam’s Club (haven’t been to Walmart yet). Is it the same thing? Would using plain baking soda work? There were other “laundry helps” on the same shelves as the A&H Washing Soda and 20 Mule Team Borax–none of which I had never noticed before! If the washing soda is not the same, is there another product that is similar? I’ve never heard of Fels Naptha before;I haven’t found it either. Thanks for help!
Thanks for the question. Arm and Hammer Washing Soda is correct. Baking Soda is not the same thing. Thank you for asking that. I am sure others will have that same question! Let me know when you try it and your results!
Malia
F.Y.I.: One of my readers just emailed to tell me she tried Zest soap and it did not melt properly, so she is back to using Ivory. Thanks, Kim!
I was wondering, is this recipe safe for the environment and our children if they accidentally gotten some on their skin etc…. I just want to make sure that it would be safe. I have a six year old aspergers child that unfortunately likes to experiment with things and it is worry of mine.
Good morning Malia,
Since I learned to make my laundry soap from you I thought I would share.
To make cheap and effective dishwasher soap I mix borax (to shelf in laundry isle) with baking soda. It also is not harmful to you or your children as dishwasher soap is.
Have a great day!
Cyndi
I actually just priced MANY household items such as laundry detergent and broke the prices down to each load or each roll of toilet paper, etc. It seems to actually be cheaper to buy ‘Wind Fresh’ powdered laundry detergent from Sam’s. It comes out to only .06/load vs. your .08/load for homemade det. It smells great and appears to be quite hypoallergenic. My middle son is very sensitive to…Everything, and he’s done fine with this detergent. However, if you live in the country or do not have access to a Sam’s Club, the homemade detergent will be the cheapest by a long shot! Thanks for the help! Keep up the great work.
Hi Audrey, thanks for stopping by. It actually cost 1/2 cent per load. The 8 cents was for when I used Tide from Sam’s Club and only used half as much as recommended. I am glad to hear about your find, though. Not everyone will be interested in making her own soap, so that may help other budget conscience moms.
Have a blessed day!
Malia
Malia,
What do ou use for a spot remover? OR do you not use a Shout, Biz or Oxyclean type of product in addition to your laundry soap?
Thanks,
Bonnie
Good question. Has anyone had reactions to using the homemade soap with Shout or Spray’n Wash?
Thanks.
Hi Sherri:
I use the shout stick as a stain remover. No problems with it. I have also heard of folks keeping a bar of old fashioned fels naptha in their laundry room, and dipping it in water and scrubbing it on a stain as a stain remover. That is much cheaper if you can find it.
Can not find A&H Washing Powder. I did see A&H Washing Soda, is that the same thing?
Yes, A & H Washing soda is the same thing.
Malia