Make Your Own Laundry Detergent
Have you ever paused in a store aisle and been struck by the sheer number of choices available to consumers in a product category? Take laundry detergent. It’s a wall of plastic jugs and boxes that can span an entire aisle in a big box store.
The reason is profit. The product is easy to make and the markup is high. If big companies can do it, what’s to stop us from creating our own detergent using common household ingredients, then pocketing the savings? Here are a few recipes for savings:
Three-Ingredient Concentrated Soap
1 bar of natural soap (like castile or a gentle glycerin soap)
1 cup of Arm & Hammer’s Super Washing Soda
1 cup of borax
Use a cheese grater to finely grate the bar of soap. Sprinkle in the washing soda and borax. Store the mixture in an airtight container. Use one to two tablespoons per load.
One batch yields 40 to 50 loads. Safe for high-efficiency washing machines.
High-Yield Recipe
1 box of Super Washing Soda (3 lb., 7 oz.)
1 box of borax (4 lb., 12 oz.)
1 box of Arm & Hammer’s Pure Baking Soda (4 lb.)
3 bars of Fels-Naptha laundry bar soap (5.5 oz.) or Ivory soap
1 container of OxiClean (1.3 lb.)
Optional: Purex Crystals (28 oz.) for scent
Finely grate the Fels-Naptha. Mix all the ingredients together and store in airtight container. Use only 1-2 tablespoons of detergent per load. Yield estimated at 500 loads.
Citrus Savings Soap
2 boxes of Super Washing Soda
1 3-pound box of detergent booster or pre soak (comparable to Biz or OxiClean)
2 tablespoons of Epsom salts
Essential oil of choice (10 to 15 drops)
3-4 bars of Zote laundry bar soap
Blend essential oil and Epsom salts. Orange and lemon oils work well. Reduce bar soap to powder with grater or food processor. Blend ingredients and store in airtight container. Estimated yield is 250 loads.
Five-Bar Soil Fighter
1 box of 20 Mule Team Borax
1 box of Super Washing Soda
1 4-pound box of baking soda
2 bars of Zote laundry bar soap
3 bars of Fels-Naptha laundry bar soap
Reduce soap to powder using a cheese grater or a lemon zoster for a finer, faster dissolving powder. Mix ingredients and store in an airtight container. Use 1 to 2 tablespoons, depending on the size of the load and dirt.
Borax-Free Soap
6 cups of Super Washing Soda
Three bars of 4.5-5 oz. soap containing coconut oil, finely grated
Lemon essential oil (optional)
Cut soap into small chunks. Add to a food processor with the washing soda. Blend to a fine powder. Cover the top of the food processor with a towel to prevent a fine mist of powder from floating into the air. Let contents settle before opening. Store in a clean container. Use 2-3 tablespoons of laundry detergent per load, adding five drops of lemon essential oil as a degreaser. When washing in cold water, dissolve the detergent in hot water before adding it to the washer.
I really like the soap recipes, but I can’t print them off. There isn’t any place at the top of the recipes to click print. Any suggestions.?
I have never seen washing soda in the store. Where do you get it?
Great article!!
I NOTICED THAT YOU ONLY USED 1 CUP OF WASHING POWDER AND 1 CUP OFBORAX
OUT OF EACH BOX ..IS THAT CORRECT AND ALL THAT IS USED TO MAKE ONE 5 GALLON LIQUID WASHING SOAP?
I’ve been making mu own detergent for several years now. Easy as can be and super efficient. The recipe I use only has the naphtha, borax and washing soda…I like the addition of essential oils or scent crystals.
That’s the kind of self-reliance we like to hear about, Deborah!
I have to tell you fine folks that is question is in my wheel house. I make my own soap and detergent for pennies. No kidding. At the end of my comment I will give you my recipe for making laundry detergent. I make 5 gallons of it and it last me for a full year.
What people need to understand is that there are three things they should know: 1.) it is easy to make. 2.) You only need a little to clean your cloths, it is a highly concentrate detergent. 3.) You should know is you have hard water or soft water.
Allow me to answer the last question first. The major detergents that you purchase in the store has a lot of salt to soften your water so that the detergent an clean your cloths. In fact almost 1/4 of your detergent has salt in it. Soft water is ideal to remove soil and stains from clothing. I have a water softener attached to my home so I don’t have to worry about hard water.
Allow me to answer the second question next. Detergent caps have lines on the inside to tell you that only a little is needed to clean your cloths. However, the detergent companies want you to over use your detergent so that you will purchase more of their product quicker. How else can you get 109 uses oh a specific detergent. I can tell you scientifically how and why this happens; but, to save time just take it from me you only need a little to clean your cloths. If you don’t believe me or trust me then hit the second wash cycle to see how much detergent is washed out of your cloths. You can see the suds as the second wash rinses out your cloths. So you only need a little to clean your cloths whether you use home made detergent or commercial brand detergents.
Now to answer question number 1. Here is my recipe for liquid detergent:
You will need:
5 gal bucket with a lid
painters paint stick (for stirring)
Box of Arm & Hammer Super washing soda
Box of 20 mule team- Borax
1 Bar of Zote soap or Fels- Napha soap
Optional: scent crystals and oxi-clean
Here is the formula you will use:
1 Cup of washing soda
1 Cup of Borax
1 Bar of Zote or Fels-Napha soap
4 gallons of hot water
3/4 Cup of scent crystals
1/4 Cup of oxi-clean
A.) Boil 1 gallon of water on the stove In a large pot.
B.) Shred one bar of Zote or Fels-Naphanwith a cheese shredder. The slowly add it to the boiling hot water. Also add the Borax and washing soda and stir until it is dissolved. You can also add your options as well
C.) While you are boiling the one gallon of water on another part of the stove boil two gallons of hot water. When the two gallons of water is boiling pour it into your 5 gallon bucket. Then pour your one gallon mixture, (Make sure everything is dissolved), into the 5 gallon bucket stirring the mixture.
D.) As you dump your 2 gallons of hot water into the bucket, refill your pot with one gallon of water and heat it until it is boiling. Then as you finish adding your mixture add the remaining one gallon of hot water to the bucket and keep stirring. Note: just stir by hand and not to vigorously. You just want to mix the ingredients and not add air to the mixture. The added oxygen will make your soap over flow the bucket.
E.) Then you will put the lid on your bucket an either place it in your garage or outside on your patio for 24 hours to cool.
F.) After 24 hours, slowly open the lid to the bucket and stir the contents. You will see the detergent in two parts a solid and a liquid. Stirring will mix the two together. You can use a ladle out the detergent into your old detergent bottles. This way you can measure out the detergent you made by using the cap from your old bottle of detergent. Remember you will only need a little. Also note that you should shake your detergent before using it so that the soap that has separated will mix with the liquid part of the detergent.
I use the scent crystals in my soap so that it gives my cloths a fresh scent and it makes my wife happy. This laundry detergent has last me and my family over one year. This is the fourth year that I have used and made my own detergent. I only had to make it twice so far and our cloths come out nice and clean smelling sweet as springtime flowers. Good Luck.
Are any of these allergy free
Yes. However, it really depends upon what you are allergic too. You can make an oatmeal soap that will fit your needs and is in high demand for those that have allergies.
can these detergents be used in cold water?
Yes. I use them in hot, warm, and cold water.
Love these recipes for making your on soap. Which of these is a great cleaner, uses all natural ingredients & safe for even washing baby/young childrens clothes? Reason i ask is to turn my kids onto this website & they infants & young children. Plus i have sensitive skin, would these work for me?
Yes. The thing about using this, (These, soaps is that they are concentrated. This means that a little will clean your cloths well. You can even make your own woollite.