Simple Homemade Laundry Detergent

 Being a saver and a couponer I was saving up my $2 laundry detergent coupons and then having to wait until the laundry soap was on sale and try to stock up as much as I could.  I tried to not pay more than $2 for a 32 load bottle however, this was such a pain in my very busy schedule.

Not long ago I decided to try a homemade laundry detergent.  I had heard that users liked it equal to and/or better than the leading name brand detergent.  I just HAD to give it a try.  One thing I was a little skeptical about was how little detergent was needed...just 1-2 TBS.  As it turns out, many of the products we purchase at the store contain unnecessary fillers so we end up needing more of it.

So I decided to make up a batch of this homemade detergent and was blown away by the first load.  My daughter had a red shirt that came out so brilliant!  I didn't even know that our clothes had become dull in the first place!  She and I looked at this beautiful, vibrant color and we became convinced that this stuff really does work.

Another thing about this detergent is that my husband has super sensitive skin so I have to be careful with what I use or it burns his skin.  I have a friend that I shared some of this with who is even more sensitive than my husband...neither had a reaction which was great news!  It washes out completely and everything just has a fresh smell.

It has now been about 4 months since I made my first batch and I'm down to about 2 weeks worth left.  I also realized I had given away about 2 weeks worth so, in all, this detergent would have lasted me nearly 5 months.  So last night the hubby and I went to purchase ingredients to make more.  The cost?  Just $12!  I usually do at least 2 loads of laundry a day on average, sometimes more but rarely less.  And I use 2 TBS per load.  So if you were working on being extra frugal and your loads aren't all that dirty you could really stretch it out by just using 1 TBS in each load.

After recently sharing my results, I have been asked by a number of my friends to please send them the recipe.  I decided it will be so much easier just to post it here so anyone can find it at anytime.

Ingredients:
4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) 
4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg)
1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz)
3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap (pink Zote soap, octagon or any other bar laundry soap...I have heard you can also use Ivory but I have yet to determine if this is regular ivory bar soap or if there is a laundry bar soap that may be different)

*Updated:  In regards to Ivory Soap being used.  I have tried to research this and it does not appear that Ivory makes a bar soap for the laundry.  It is likely that those using Ivory are using the original bar bath soap for this.  If you are sensitive to smell, this may be a good choice since the Fels-Naptha does have a moderate scent; however I have not personally tried it to know what kind of results you will experience.  If you decide to try it, I would love for you to post a comment to share your results.  :)

*You can also add 3.5 lbs of oxy clean if you would like, however I did not since it is so expensive.  I figured if I needed it I could purchase it and just add a little to extra dirty loads.  I have not seen that this is a necessary ingredient.  Please note:  If you use oxy clean in your detergent it is not recommended to mix with bleach.

All of the above ingredients were found very close together at our local super center laundry isle.  So you should not need to track them down once you know what you are looking for.  

So next you will need a 4-5 gallon container for mixing all of these ingredients in.  You want something large enough so you aren't dumping it out as you are mixing.   I actually store mine in one of those super large barrel pretzel containers.  I'll post a picture of that when I get a chance.  

Now for the easy part.... you will want to dump all of your box ingredients into the container.   Then take the bar soap you are using and you can either grate on a cheese grater (if you want to do it the slow way) or you can take your soap, chop it into small chunks and throw it into a food processor.  This will chop it up into very fine little balls of soap. You might also want to add a teaspoon or 2 of some of the powder from the other ingredients to help the soap breakdown more easily in the food processor if your soap doesn't seem to process well.  Once the soap has been grated/processed, just toss it in with the other ingredients and mix well.  You are now ready to do laundry with your own homemade laundry detergent!!  

The more finely you chop the easier it will be for it to process.

It should look like tiny little balls of soap.

I included my glasses to provide more of an idea of the size of this jar.  This was a jar of pretzels that has been re-purposed.  As you can see it makes quite a bit of laundry soap.  

Overall, as mentioned before, I usually do 2 loads of laundry a day and I use to purchase at least two 32 load jugs of laundry detergent a month which the cheap stuff at regular price is around $6 for one 32 load jug.  So for the same price I can get 5 times as many months!  A savings of $48!

I do use this in cold water and have never had a problem with residue.  It dissolves completely.  It can also be used in an HE machine since it does not create suds, but you would want to add it to the barrel of the machine and not the dispenser.

Enjoy!