To make your own low-bubbling detergent for both high efficiency and traditional machines, you need four ingredients: Borax, Washing Soda, Soap, and Water
Borax and Washing soda can usually be found in the laundry aisle of any good grocery.
Pretty much any soap is suitable for laundry use, however, some soaps are so GOOD or so EXPENSIVE that it would silly to buy them for laundry. If you aren’t making your own lard or Crisco soap, or don’t have a bunch of old soap bits lying around, Ivory (25 cents a bar at Walmart for the 16 pack) is your best bet for versatility and price. Fels-naptha and Zote are also fine options. Zote may be as economical as Ivory or homemade since it comes in such a large bar, but I haven’t found it in my area.
Kirk’s Castille is JUST FINE for laundry, but at 1$ a bar, I would never buy it for that purpose. However, I did buy it to make shampoo, but because of the ADDED EVIL GLYCERIN, it makes my hair GREASY, so for our demonstration this afternoon, Kirks will be the LAUNDRY bar. (Grrrr.)
Powdered Laundry Soap:
2 cups finely grated soap (Ivory, Fels Naptha, Zote, homemade, or a combination)
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
Mix and store in a coffee can or what have you. Use 1-2 T per load.**
If you intend to use this detergent DRY, then I highly recommend that you buzz it in the coffee grinder or food processor to get the soap really fine.
**NOTE: There is a great degree of debate about this laundry powder and others like it. Some find that the laundry comes out clean as a whistle using the usual 1-2T per load. Others find that their clothes come out smelly and dingy. Here is the MAGICAL solution. Because of water differences, soil differences, and washer sizes, it will take SOMEWHERE between 1TBSP and 1/2 cup of this detergent. (Mine is 6T for a super-size white load) BUT, once you find your magic amount, it will be the cleanest, whitest laundry you ever had.
Depending on WHY you are choosing to make your own, this may or may not discourage you from continuing to use it. If, for example, you are doing it to be better for the environment, more self-sufficient, reduce chemicals in the home, or because you hate shopping–it won’t affect you. However, if you are doing this solely for the purpose of being frugal, you may find that your perfect amount of powder exceeds the 5 cents a load that you can squeeze out of a wholesale club bulk buy.
Now, onto the liquid. I prefer to use the liquid version of this recipe because I’m obsessed with undissolved particles. If you plunk a wad of the dry in a bucket and stir for a while, you will notice that it doesn’t all dissolve. That bugs me. So, I PRE-dissolve it.
Liquid Laundry Soap–
2 cups finely grated soap
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
water and bucket (> 1 gallon)
1. If you tried the powder version and want to switch that batch to liquid, cook it all in the saucepan together over medium until the soap melts OR if your ingredients are still separate, melt the soap over medium in a few cups of water and add the rest right after you take it off the heat and stir to dissolve.
2. Pour in pail and add enough HOT water to equal one gallon. Stir well.
3. Let set up overnight.
4. Stir. It will be a soupy gel.
5. Use between 1/4c and 2 cups per load. (**See above note)
This stuff also works well as a pre-treater. I’ve found it especially effective with those phantom water drip looking circles that appear on my t-shirts. I’ve also used it to scrub the bathroom and in my dishwasher in a pinch.
Ivory
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Greetings from Hartland, Michigan
I use it for the frugality! IMHO it cleans better than the .05 per load deal detergents. I have tried for years to find something that cleaned as well as Tide, and this does the trick.
Hanging items in the sun to dry also goes a long way stain removal.
@ angela–AWESOME! I’m always glad to hear that something DIY works as well, or better, than the store version.
I ran out of detergent today, so i made this recipe. To tell you the I’ve never found anything to work this good. Zote was the soap we used when I was growing up and loved the way it clean. I add some lavender oil and it smells as good as any leading brand. Thanks, is it o.k. for me to pass this along to others. Margie
@Margie–Pass away! The world needs homemade laundry soap evangelists!!!
I LOVE your blog.
I have an infant with somewhat sensitive skin. Can I use this to launder her clothes? What about her diapers? The labels on them all say to use additive free detergent. Do I just need to pick a soap that is free of dye and perfume to make this comparable to store-bought free & clear?
Yep. Just get some ivory and you’re good to go. It’s even freer and cleaner than anything you can get in the store. Only three ingredients.
Do you know if the liquid version be ok to store in an old laundry detergent bottle, or would it be hard to pour? Would I just be better off keeping it in a wide-mouth plastic container?
P.S.: Thanks for the recipe, by the way! I boughtmy Ivory, washing soda, and borax, and I’m just about to start grating!
I have been wanting to make this for a while now and finally did so last night. When I woke up with my baby in the middle of the night I stirred it. Wow did it get super thick! I was comparing this to another recipe that called for the exact same meassurements, but you use a 5g bucket and almost 4 g of water. So there was a huge difference. Now this morning I opened my ice cream pail (my container of choice) and it was in almost a solid form. You think this will affect how much I should be using? I used Fels Naptha if that matters. Next time I think I want to use something more ‘free and clear/green’ because I wash for a baby. And yes I totally agree about the soap not dissloving. First made this in powder form a couple of months back and had to use really scalding hot water to disslove it and was still left with little bits of soap. My goal was to use cold water to wash my clothes. And this might be a goal out of reach due to my VERY hard water. I have the same prob while attempting to make dishwasher detergent. So I hope that my goop works because it’s more the consistency of mashed potatoes…..anyone else have this happen? I used more than a gallon of water too. (Ice cream pail holds about 4.75 quarts) I’m going to go give it a try right now.
I have been looking for Washing Soda for over a week. I finally called arm and hammer and they said my local Kroger had it, I guess I missed it when I went. I called to verify because I went to 3 different wal-marts with no luck. They had it, I don’t think I have ever been so excited about any thing in my life (that might be sad). I cannot wait to use this!
Well I couldn’t find washing soda locally but Meijer sells it online for way, way less than I would have paid at the store anyway (but you have to buy a case of 12 boxes). So once it gets here I will have oh I guess a couple of years worth of washing so. I am looking forward to making this!!!
(to use with my hand washers)
Things I have learned since my last comment:
The commercial liquid I was using was costing me about $0.30 a load (YIKES)
AND it doesn’t rinse worth a darn (GRRRR). This costs about $0.05/load. $0.15/load since I used distilled water for the liquid version.
A case of washing soda weighs like a ton! And after having made a batch and a half of soap, I can safely guesstimate that the case will last me at least 5 years.
You add hot water to the melty because room temp makes it go congeally in a weird way. But if you leave it on the heat and keep stirring, it gets nice and melty again. (I forgot the HOT water part even though you put it in caps and everything. My bad.)
Ivory soap is more than enough scent on its own for this girl.
If you add baking soda as well as washing soda for a more deodorant effect will that work too ?
Here’s what I was thinking of adding baking soda, washing soda, zote, borax…thanks in advance.
I’ve heard of people putting in baking soda. There’s certainly nothing wrong with it.
Ivory soap is smaller than Zote or Fels Naptha, isn’t it? Is it still just one bar per recipe?
Okay, I just realized the recipe calls for 2 cups grated soap. Sorry about my last comment. Never mind!
Well, I got all my ingredients yesterday and I am ready to start grating soap this morning to make my first batch. I bought a tiny bottle of lemon scented essential oil to try a few drops for fragrance. I am so excited to try this! I might just become frugal and creative in other areas as well. I love reading your posts and trying new things. Just wish I could have some banty chickens. Oh well, will have to wait till we can move out of city limits.
I just made my first ever batch of homemade liquid laundry soap! I’m new to reading this blog and I love it!! Ivory soap smells so good, I’m looking forward to washing some clothes when that soap sets up! Thanks for sharing your info!!!
I just TRIED to make the powder detergent. I obviously did it wrong because I left a mess in my kitchen! I grated the Ivory soap in my food processor and it came out in little balls. I then decided to make it liquid detergent. I measured out the dry ingredients and then measured 12 cups of water and boiled it on the stove. I poured the HOT water onto the dry ingredients and stirred and stirred and the Ivory soap was still little balls floating around. I then put it back on the stove to boil it down and it bubbled ALL OVER the place!!!! I am confused about the directions to: pour enough HOT water to equal one gallon. I figured that the 4 cups of ingredients and 12 cups of water equals one gallon?????? What am I doing wrong? HELP!
Adding regular baking soda to your wash will help accomodate the hard water issue. As for boiling the soap, the recipes I have read say not to boil it just heat till melted. I make the powdered recipe, once I was out of the Fels Naptha and used the Ivory. I made no mention of that to my husband but he came to me and said his clothes smelled “sour” so I went back to Fels Naptha and have had no complaints. Ace Hardware sells the Washing Soda on their website and will deliver it to a store of your choice for no shipping. The price is reasonable also. I had my Mom buy out all her Kroger had in stock and bring it to me in NC. I shred the bar soap with a grater then use the blender to further pulverize the whole mixture, just make sure that the Fels doesn’t get clogged around the blades. I alread killed an old small food processor that way.
How do I know if my water is hard???
Hi, wanted to thank you for this wonderful recipe. I learned a couple of tricks along the way in making this laundry soap. I live in Alaska and we have HARD water. The first time I made this, I ended up with a solid tub of laundry soap. I would scoop some out and mix with more water to get it back to liquid form. The next time I made it, well lets just say that you don’t put it on the stove and go work on something else around the house. However, I did learn that this laundry soap works great for cleaning the stove and cleans a kitchen floor like nobody’s business. The third time I made it, it came out just like in your pictures. While cooking your ingredients, scoop the suds off the top and make sure you don’t have any suds. When you pour it into your container to store it, scoop off the suds that come from pouring. Add the water to make a gallon and stir. It turns out Wonderfully! I just wanted to share some things that I found out from making this.
Thanks for sharing this it’s absolutely wonderful.
Toni
Hi Sandra,
here’s a web site that gives you information on how to tell if you have hard or soft water.
http://www.howtoguides365.com/how-to/hard-water/
I hope this helps. T
Is this detergent suitable only for whites, or can I use it for colors, too? I want to make sure I can use it for all of our laundry (of which there is a TON! Babies make EVERYTHING dirty
) before whipping up a big ol’ batch.
Darci, I use it on everything!