I am used to making things from scratch but something I had never made was laundry detergent.
You can find a variety of ingredients at Meijer and making homemade laundry detergent .
My friend Sandra over at The Cumberland Island Quilt Chick shared this recipe the other day and while I like making things, it was the idea of saving THAT much money that appealed to me.
There are only three ingredients:
A bar of Fels Naptha or Octagon soap
Washing Soda
Borax
I also bought some essential oils because the Cotton Husband likes his clothes REALLY REALLY fragrant.
Don’t ask him about the time I bought unscented detergent (thinking of the babies’ sensitive skin)… he refused to wear any of the clothes. He never actually complained to me, but each morning I could hear him sniff a shirt, put it back and choose an older one that had been washed in MountainSpringGlacierTideOrangeGroveLemonTree detergent.
According to Sandra, I got ripped off on the ingredients by buying them through Amazon, but even still – the price should work out to pennies a bottle. You’ll get a LOT of gallon-size bottles out of those boxes of powder! I just need to shop a little smarter next time.
The first step is to grate 1/3 of the bar of soap (Fels Naptha) and melt it in water on the stove.
Then add the washing soda…
Then the Borax…
Stir and let sit on low heat until it’s thicker… almost like honey.
Add one quart of HOT water to a 2 gallon bucket or dishpan and then pour in the mixture.
Then fill the 2 gallon container with cold water, stir well and let sit for about 24 hours. (The 24-hour part came from Sandra. I am far too impatient for that and waited only about an hour before filling up my containers. I will let you know if they explode or something.)
This is also when you’ll add the essential oils. I bought citrusy ones, but Lavender would be wonderful!
And that’s it! Really, really easy and at a minimum of mess. I mean, when the “mess” is soap how hard can cleanup really be?
Sooooo… this is all well and good but let’s see some results.
For the test, I chose a terribly unfortunate purchase I made a couple years ago: a white bathmat for the girls’ bathroom. Ugh. That wasn’t the best choice. Mud color with pink sprinkles would have been better.
Before:
Aaaaaaand…
Washed with 1/2 cup of detergent in cold water:
Well, I’m sold. I didn’t use bleach or Oxyclean or anything else other than the homemade detergent on that rug and it came out perfectly clean. Impressive!
Here’s the recipe:
RECIPE:
1/3 bar of Fels Naptha (grated)
(This is just a hard bar of soap that is for laundry stains,etc.)
1/2 cup Washing Soda (not baking soda)
1/2 cup Borax Powder
*Put Fels Naptha (grated) in large pan of 3 pints of water. *Heat to dissolve.
*Then, stir in washing soda. *Then, add Borax. Let thicken on low heat until it looks like honey.
*Remove from heat. *In 2 gallon bucket (or a dishpan), put in 1 Qt. HOT water. *Next, add the honey looking soap and stir.
*Then, fill the 2 gallon container with COLD water. *Stir till well-blended.
*Let this set until it gels somewhat-24 hrs. or so. *Put into containers for storage and easy use.
*Use 1/2 cup per load of wash.
*Optional: Add essential oil for scent.
.png "mentoring")
.png "footer1")
.png "footer2")
27 comments
I am so looking forward to trying this. Where did you buy the ingredients?
Thanks for sharing this – I’m definitely going to try it out, even if it is only me and the husband to wash clothes for!
From what I understand, the ingredients are cheapest at Walmart – I’m going to be sure to stock up next time I get near one!
This sounds awesome! I have thought about making my own laundry soap before, but never got around to it…I think I will try this! About your comment, “I mean, when the “mess” is soap how hard can cleanup really be?”, let me tell you…my 3 dumped a bunch of laundry soap on our carpet…it’s been almost a year, and I still haven’t gotten all the soap out!
I think this is great. Thanks for sharing, I’ll definitely try this. ~Mari’
You don’t need oxiclean when you have Borax. I use Borax in EVERY wash load. We have well water which is very hard, the Borax helps to soften the water. I started using Borax when washing cloth diapers, but soon used it in every wash load. Oh, and Borax is a natural flame retardant.
Between this and a recent recipe for making one’s own deodorant I’ve found, I’m getting really interested in all this making-for-yourself stuff!
Once we make the move to SC I think I’m going to try making my own laundry detergent & deodorant… this is really cool.
I wonder, would it make colors fade? I can’t imagine it would, but my grasp on laundry science is… well, it’s tenuous at best.
Thanks for passing this along Jennifer!~ We country wives have to stick together! Besides, my daughter kinda “poo poo’d” the idea… Now that she sees YOU making it, she might belive me. LOL
Yes, just ask your grocery or walmart to order it in for you if they don’t have it, they will. XO
I can’t imagine the colors fading, Katie. Nothing in there is very harsh or laundry un-friendly. It just all works very, very well together!
And Rachel, I knew better than to say that because I used to work at a bath product store and the mantra was “Do NOT add water to a spill!”.
I have been using this for a couple of years now. We love it. Another money-saving tip is to use white vinegar as your fabric softener. It doesn’t leave the clothes smelling like vinegar. They pretty much don’t smell like anything. Since the Cotton Husband likes scented clothes, though, I’m not sure if it would remove your scents or not. I just use the same amount of vinegar as I would fabric softener.
By the way, how does your soap look this morning. It looked so pretty in those jugs, but mine always becomes more of a solid that requires breaking up before use. I worried that you might not be able to get it out of the jugs.
It was the same! I shook it a little before I poured it but maybe that’s why you let it sit overnight? In case you need to add more water?
Sounds nice if you have the time. I think I’ll stick to my coupons and stocking up when I can get detergent, fabric softener, and stain remover for FREE. I think I’m set for the next year or so!
What a cool idea! I am “young” enough to remember the “20 mule team Borax” commercials on my cowboy shows–so it is nice it is still being used- and so effectively!
I always wanted to try Lacy’s detergent recipe but with allergies I just dont want to upset the apple cart!! The whole fire engine red rash exactly where socks and undies fit on the body , where the seams of shirts rub…….not so fun.
Think my family is up to being guinea pigs again? Surely they have forgotten about that cheap harsh detergent from Sam’s Club 15 years ago!!!
I will have to try it. I used to use the Fels Naptha when I had to wash Gary’s whites for work. Thankfully now they have a laundry company that does their uniforms.
Does anyone know if this will fade dark color clothes more quickly? I have all the stuff to make this soap but I worry my husbands dark cotton shirts will fade. Any input would be appreciated.
I haven’t experienced any fading… I’ve been using it a year or more.
Kristy–I wash all my clothes with it and don’t notice any fading. In fact, I use a little extra on my darks because they happen to be my husband’s work clothes. Also, you can use your bar of Fels Naptha as a stain stick. For instance, wet the ring-around-the-collar with water. Rub the bar of Fels onto the ring. I then use a small scrub brush to scrub the stain. Throw into the wash. Don’t leave it on there, though. Throw it in right away with the load. If you allow it to sit for a day before rinsing the Fels off, it may eat holes through the shirt. I may or may not have found this out the hard way. I may have thought it was a good idea to treat all the stains on all my clothes at the same time. Leaving some for the next load that didn’t get put in until the following day. My husband may or may not now have some tiny holes where the ring-around-the-collar used to be. You probably could rinse it off after scrubbing, but I am lazy and prefer just to throw it in right away.
I tried this last August and for the equivalent cost of one jug of store bought detergent, I had enough for 7 or 8 months from one batch! I had tons of Borax and washng soda left for future bathches. It does not fade dark colors. I was pleased with every thing except my dish cloths. It didn’t seem to get kitchen stains out of the cloths so well, but I loved it and felt so good about saving so much money.
I can’t get enough of homemade products…
This recipe sounds amazing and I am really interested to try.
Thanks for sharing,
Tes
I just bought the ingedients for this soap, and I am excited to make it! I couldn’t find the Fels Naptha, tho, but I did find a laundry bar soap called Zote. I was wondering if anybody knew if they were similar and if this might work as well? And how many ounces is a bar of Fels Naptha?
I’m making it this morning! The only ingredient I found in walmart was the Borax. The other 2 I ordered off Ebay (very cheap)
Can you use this recipe for front load washers that require the “Low Sudsing” laundry detergent?
you just amaze me!! you are the all american wife!! i wanna be like that!! lol!
Totally worked! The first day I used it I came home to find my cat peed on my purse (not very nice huh!) I freaked and filled up my sink and hand washed it for about 15 min. Hung it and when it dried it has no urine smell or anything! Now if I used regular detergent it would have probably taken 2 to 3 washed in the washer. Thanks for this recipe!!!
So glad I found this recipe. I’ve used it several times, love it, and thought it was about time I thanked you and the Cumberland Island Quilt Chick for sharing. Thanks!