There are TONS of different recipes for laundry soap out there, I have tried a few and this one is my favorite. I’ve been using this for a year now and one batch lasts 3 months for (on average) 5 people. It’s really easy to make and cheaper than buying it.
You will need Borax, Washing Soda (not baking soda), Fels-Naptha soap, water and essential oils (optional). I found all of these items (except the essential oils) at Fred Meyer near the laundry soap.
Start by grating the bar of soap.
Then melt the grated soap in a large pan with 1 gallon of water on medium low heat. Don’t let it boil just heat it up, stirring often until all the soap has melted.
When the bar soap is melted add the borax and washing soda and stir until the borax and washing soda have dissolved. Then pour the soap into a big bucket (I use a 5 gallon bucket) and add 2 gallons of cool water to the bucket and stir. Now is when you add the essential oil of your choice. I like lemon or sweet orange.
Stir it up again and let your concoction set over night. The soap will gel up and separate over night. It will look something like this:
I like to use an immersion blender to make it nice and smooth.
You can funnel the soap into smaller containers or I keep it in the bucket and use a long handled ladle to scoop half a cup of detergent per load of laundry. If the soap sits for a while it will separate again so remember to stir between each use.
This detergent works in any washing machine. I have a high efficiency washer and this soap is safe to use in it.
- 1 bar of Fels Naptha Laundry soap
- 1 cup of Borax
- 1 cup of Washing Soda
- 3 gallons of water
- 10-20 drops of essential oil (optional)
- Start by grating the bar of soap. Then melt the grated soap in 1 gallon of water on medium low heat. Do not boil and stir often. When the soap has melted add 1 cup of borax and 1 cup of washing soda and stir until dissolved. Pour your soap mixture into a big bucket (something that holds more than 3 gallons) and add 2 more gallons of water. Now add an essential oil of your choice if you would like and stir well. Let it set over night. It will gel up and separate over night so stir and stir or use an immersion blender to make it nice and smooth.
- Use ½ a cup per load of laundry.
This post was shared at: Clever Chicks Blog Hop – Thrifty Thursday –
