I love my homemade laundry detergent! However, it took me awhile to narrow it down to which recipe worked best for me. I now use a mega stain fighting powder. You can read below about how I arrived at this decision or skip straight to the recipe I use now.
I finally did it! I made homemade liquid laundry detergent! I’ve been wanting to try it for over a year now but kept procrastinating for two reasons:
#1 I thought it would be time consuming and not worth my time. Not when I could buy it at the store for less than $2 per bottle.
I was so wrong. It is SO easy. I worked for under an hour and made six gallons of detergent plus grated more soap for the next time, with very little clean up. And worth my time? Yes it is! I paid a little over $7 for all my ingredients, made six gallons and still enough to make six more gallons before I have to buy more washing soda. That works out to less than $0.58 per gallon.
#2 There were too many steps.
Most of the tutorials I read called for cooking the mixture on the stove, then transferring to a bucket, adding water and then transferring again to jugs. This didn’t appeal to me so I rewrote the steps. My method takes you from stove to jug. No bucket.
Recipe for Homemade Laundry Detergent
Ingredients
- 1/3 bar soap (grated)
- 1/2 cup washing soda
- 1/2 cup Borax
- 2 one-gallon jugs
Directions
- Place grated soap in a sauce pan.
- Add 6 cups of water and heat until the soap melts, stirring as needed.
- Add washing soda and Borax. Stir until dissolved.
- Remove from heat
- Pour 2 cups of hot water into each of the gallon jugs.
- Pour 3 cups (half) of soap mixture into each gallon jug.
- Add 11 cups of water to each gallon jug and stir.
- Let soap sit for 24 hours to gel.
It’s really easy to double (x2) and triple (x3) this recipe. Just multiply the ingredients by 2 or 3 and also the amount of water you add to the grated soap by 2 or 3. The rest of the measurements remain the same.
Remember to use a larger pan with larger batches.
Tips:
- Transfer the Borax and Washing Soda into containers that are easier to work with. This makes it easier to scoop out the amount you need rather than trying to pour it our of the cardboard box without making a mess. It also makes for better storage. Be sure to label your containers for safety.
- Freeze the soap ahead of time. It makes grating easier.
- Grate extra soap for next time. 1/3 bar soap = a little more than 1/3 cup.
- I use a long, skinny plastic spoon. I can use the spoon end for stirring the soap mixture while cooking, then flip it over and use the handle to stir the mixture inside the jugs.
- Your liquid detergent may not gel. That’s ok. It’ll still clean your laundry.
Have you made your own laundry detergent? What did you think?
I have been making my own soap for about a year now using the method you talked about, stirring in a larger container and transferring to jugs. I will DEFINITELY try your way next time. I haven’t done the math, but I spend maybe $5 a year on laundry soap by making it myself. I usually give about half away to friends and family. I occasionally add essential oils as well. I am partial to unscented soap, but I added lemon for extra cleaning power once, which worked well. I added lavender because it is good for the skin. About a month ago, I added Meleleuca oil for my friend who had kiddos with head lice.
Making laundry soap is well worth it! I am a busy, working mother, anyone can do this.
I started making my own, too! I’m using the same ingredients, but keep in in the powdered form instead of pre-mixing with water. I use one castile bar soap (homeland has it for $1.45), plus 1 cup borax and 1 cup washing soda, and about 20 drops of essential oil. I just mix it together, then use about 1 tablespoon per load in my front loading machine. Works like a charm & avoids a lot of things that are in commercial detergent that I don’t like. Also, I put vinegar in the softener dispenser.
Love this process!!
I just made the powdered laundry soap – pretty much the same but use oxiclean – whites are very white. I washed some very nasty work clothes covered with grease, I thought they were gonners – not a stain on the clothes.
I love this stuff. Safe for front loaders (put in drum instead of soap thing)
What kind of soap did you use? I am waiting to run out of the detergent I bought through couponing before I make this. I already bought the borax & the washing soda, but I haven’t found the castille soap. I haven’t tried Homeland. Homeland is a bit far from my house. I ‘m hoping to find it somewhere closer. Would it be located with the bath soaps, cleaning products or laundry products?
I have just a few more loads of fabric softener left. I am making my fabric softener very soon.
Hi Becky, I used Softsoap Bar Soap for this batch because it’s what I had. I would check with the laundry or cleaning products.
Thanks for this. I too have wanted to try this,but thought it too complicated,but you make it seem easy. Was grating the soap difficult? I’m also very interested in the one Felicia used with oxiclean as I love that stuff. Would love to know the source or proportions used?
Gina, I put my soap in the freezer first and then grating is easy.
I personally use the fels naptha soap. I found the borax powder, washing soda and fels naptha right next to each other at Walmart on the cleaning aisle.
I love homemade laundry detergent! I am just now getting to the end of a huge batch I made a few months ago. Instead of using 1 gallon jugs, I poured mine into a large bucket (w/ a lid). We have allergies and sensitive skin in my family, and this detergent is gentle. I like the light fragrance of the Fels Naptha. I had about 8 containers of store bought detergent from couponing. We got a new HE only washer as a gift and I could not use those anymore (a friend bought them from me at a discounted price :)). This detergent is safe to use in HE! Thank you Amanda, I am glad you had such success with your detergent making :).
This is the website I got the recipe from
http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/2010/11/homemade-laundry-soap.html#comments
It uses Fels-Naptha soap that I found at Walmart. I used 1/2 the amount of everything.
Thanks Felicia!
How much detergent to you use for a large load?
I always wash large loads and have been using half a cup, except for my husband’s work clothes, I use a full cup.
I made liquid laundry soap the other way, and it was a colossal pain. I switched to a powdered one and have been happy as can be. Super easy and only uses 1-2 T. per load. I also made fabric softener and reusable dryer sheets. Hurray for Pinterest!