Household Recipes: Homemade Laundry Detergent
I am a hardcore couponer.* My kids are even in on it. Whenever we go to the grocery store together they both want to know ahead of time “Do we get any coupons?”. I usually pick out a coupon I had planned on using (for a kid friendly item to make it more fun) and give one to each of them. Their job then is to find the item or items in the grocery store and put them in the buggy. They also get to put them on the belt and hand over their coupons when time comes to pay. Then we talk about how much money they saved that day by using them and I’ll usually go through a drive through for some sort of treat and explain to them how we got that “free” with the money we saved.
Consequently, Katy’s favorite thing to do is get my coupons out of the printer whenever I print them off from websites and such. As soon as she hears that printer going she hollers out “Ma! Can I get the coupons out for you?” and here she’ll come a running with pieces of paper, proud as a peacock. Hint: You can print out coupons directly from SouthernPlate.com by using the Coupons widget about middle ways down in the right sidebar!
One of the things that drives me half mad is the price of laundry detergent. This is one item which is absolutely necessary in your household but so seldom goes on sale. To make matters worse, Katy has had some sensitivity issues to detergent in the past (she broke out in hives when I tried out a lavender scented one and on one other occasion when I tried another detergent) so I am limited to which ones I can purchase.
A while back, I came across a Tipnut.com post on homemade laundry detergent. Now my initial thought was not to replace our laundry detergent but rather to simply know how to make my own in a pinch, if I ever had the need. I just love being able to do things like this on my own, must have been all those episodes of MacGyver when I was younger. I was pretty surprised to find that not only did it clean better than the high dollar brands but it also softened our clothes (I no longer use fabric softener) and made everything even smell fresher than the brand I had been using.
It has been requested by all members of my household (including the youngest, who thinks grating soap is just the coolest thing ever) that I only use this detergent from now on. We’ve been using it for a few months now and I’m totally won over. Of course, they love it for the smell and feel of our clothes, I love it for how great it works and the fact that it only costs me about eight cents per load of laundry now!
In my mind, the commercial versions can’t come close to this.
Tipnut has an extensive list of laundry detergent recipes on her site, including several for liquid detergent. She also has a great FAQ section just for laundry detergent questions! I considered the liquid detergent recipes for all of thirty seconds and went straight with the powder because it suits my commitment to keep things as low maintenance and simple as possible.
This is only my second batch that I’ve made up. It seemed to last forever so this last time I actually measured out how many loads were in each batch so I could give you an accurate figure. No wonder it lasted forever, I had made enough for 160 loads!
Today I’m bringing you the recipe I use which I found on Tipnut.com. After viewing this tutorial, hop on over there and check out her other recipes for detergent to find the one that works best for you. This one is the hands down winner at my house!
You’ll need:
- Laundry Soap (Fels Naptha or Zote are the ones I have used. You can also use: Sunlight Bar Soap, Kirk’s Hardwater Castile, or even Ivory)
- Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
- Borax
Note: You’re not likely to find all of these things in one store. I usually have to make trips to at least two different stores to get them. One store will have the Borax but put it beside a huge box of Baking Soda instead of washing soda and then another will have the soap. Just have fun shopping around for what you like but be sure you remember where you got everything! I am going to show you a recipe for detergent to make about eighty loads worth but I recommend you get four bars of soap and go ahead and make 160 loads worth because there is enough Borax and Washing Soda in one box to do that much. This will give you the absolute best savings!
The only real work involved is grating your soap. I use a cheese grater for this. I really want to use my food processor but I’m worried about hard soap damaging or dulling my blades so cheese grater it is!
Get your soap, a dishpan or large bowl, and grater and go find something good on TV.
If you have access to one of the first few seasons of Mcleod’s Daughter’s, that’d be my pick.
*I get about three cups of soap shavings from each bar. Measurements will vary according to the size of your bar soap and how finely it is ground.
We’re grating this kind of fine so it melts easier in the water.
If you like, you can run the shavings through the food processor when you are done to make it finer but this works just fine for me.
Measure out your soap grounds in a large mixing bowl. This is where the recipe gets easy.
However many cups of soap shavings you have, half that to know the number of cups of Washing Soda and Borax to put in.
So for six cups of soap shavings, use three cups of borax and three cups of washing soda!
Measure out Washing Soda
And borax..
Stir all of that up!
You’ll have to stir a bit each time you scoop some out to get a good ratio of soap shavings to powder but that’s no big deal.
I store mine in a little flip top container and leave an 1/8th of a cup measuring cup in there to measure it out. Can you believe this only takes two tablespoons per load? Seriously! I put this to the test, too. I’ve figure out that two tablespoons is pretty close to 1/8th of a cup so that is the measurement I use now.
The main difference you will notice between this and store bought detergents is that this detergent doesn’t suds up as commercial ones do. Don’t let that deter you! Once you pull out your first load of clean, fresh smelling, naturally soft and fluffy laundry, that only cost YOU eight cents to clean, you’ll be hooked.
Homemade Laundry Detergent
*This was based off of Tipnut.com’s recipe #4, I just altered the amounts
- 4 Bars Laundry Soap (to yield 12 cups of soap shavings)
- 6 Cups Borax (this is roughly one box)
- 6 Cups Washing powders (this is roughly one box)
Grate soap using cheese grater. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well. Place in sealed container and measure out two tablespoons for each load.
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Smaller Batch Recipe
- 2 Cups Laundry Soap Shavings (you can get this easily from one bar)
- 1 Cup Borax
- 1 Cup Washing Soda
*Follow Instructions For Above Recipe
Soaps you can use: Fels Naptha, Zote, Sunlight Bar Soap, Kirk’s Hardwater Castile, or Ivory
*For great coupon strategies and advice, visit www.southernsavers.com.
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Hello Christy and friends!
If you have trouble finding the bar soaps locally, there is a website that has Fels Naptha and Zote. It’s soapsgonebuy.com.
I’ve tried this, and it worked well enough, but I went back to my very favourite detergent, and it’s nearly as cheap… Sears Ultra Plus. (big orange and green box).
I cheap out in other ways. I use real butter, and I use storebought laundry detergent. However, I shop a lot at Goodwill and Salvation Army stores.
Have a great weekend!
Lawrence
Can you add a scent (like lavender), or is the scent from
the soap good enough?
I’m one of those people who MUST like the scent, or I don’t care
HOW cheap it is, I wouldn’t use it. :/
PS: I LOVE this website!!! I have learned so much since I started
visiting here, and love the fact that the people who also visit
here are almost like family! Thank you for always brightening my
day. Raising children is difficult…it’s nice to see that others
have the same issues in the kitchen (and in life), and that the humor we find in the insanity can make us ALL feel better!!
One hint I heard once was to add your detergent first and let the washer fill a few inches before you put in the clothes. I have been doing that and seem to have better success than when I added the detergent last. Sometimes I even swish it around a little to make sure it distributes evenly.
I’ve been making my own liquid detergent for a couple of years and would hate to give it up. Kids would love making it because it turns out looking like slime. It always amazes me how it sets up overnight.
I am intrigued. I have plenty of commercial laundry detergent for now, but when it runs out, I might try this! And I discovered the first season of MacLeod’s Daughters is on Netflix Instant Viewing! Might give me something to talk to my Australian coworker about! 🙂
Forget washing clothes, where do you get McIeod’s Daughter? I used to get it on We, but haven’t seen it in several years.
I’ve tried this and yes, it gives clothing such a clean, fresh smell. Of course, I love the smell of Fels Naptha, to me it is just such a “clean” smell. I do recommend that everyone mark their washing soda box with POISON in big black letters, just in case someone mistakes it for baking soda.
I make my own detergent for the delicates cycle; two boxes of Ivory Snow to an equal amount of 20 Mule Team Borax. I do not bother to cook it, just stir it well to mix it up. I use the scoop that comes with the Ivory Snow, one full scoop per large load and I let the washer run for a few minutes to dissolve the detergent before I add the clothes. I store the detergent in an empty plastic biscotti container (Sam’s Club Size).
I love this. I have been making my own for a while now. I started with the liquid and now am making the powder. Much easier. My 6 and 15 year olds like to grate the soap! I have found that in a pinch I can use baking soda, but add color safe bleach and still get clean clothes. I also have used Ivory soap but my fave is Zote. Sometimes hard to find, like the washing soda. However, you can find washing soda in pool supply areas too. The vinegar is great for stains and is a natural softener. Thanks for sharing.