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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I have been using this recipe for a while now to wash our cloth diapers. I only recently decided to use it for all our laundry and I’m so glad that I did! The clothes really do come out softer and great smelling. I always add Oxyclean to the recipe and have been able to stop using Shout except on really bad stains!
Norma, not sure where you live in NC but i live in Havelock (in between New Bern and Atlantic Beach) and I found the washing powder at Harris Teeter, and the Fels Naptha at Piggly Wiggly.
I cannot find any of those soaps in my area. No one has heard of those brands. I did find one called Octagon. The package says it is an all-purpose soap and can be used for laundry stains and dishes. Doesn’t smell all that great, though. I cannot find the washing powder either. Bummer!
Hey! I’m in NC and Harris Teeter now carries Fals Naptha (it didn’t use to years ago when I made this). Wal-Mart carries Zote. I tried Octagon once and didn’t like it at all. YOu can also use Ivory in a pinch.
The Washing SOda is at Harris Teeter too, but it’s hit or miss. If one location doesn’t have it, another might..you could call around first.
If you live in an area that just doesn’t have it at all, I would ask the grocer if he/she would order it for you.
There are on-line options too, but I never felt that was the best option. It ads to cost and convenience and was just not worth it to me.
Hope this helps some!
Harris Teeter will order any of the items if your particular location doesn’t stock it. Just tell them at Customer Service. One associate at Harris Teeter in Greensboro said that they had quit carrying Borax but one customer wouldn’t use anything else and said he wanted to continue to buy it there…and they ordered it, just for him!
P.S. I wanted to mention that I’ve shared this recipe with several friends and they all love it! It’s spreading among our circle now!
Christy,
I have been using homemade laundry detergent for a while now, and though mine using the same ingredients yours does, I make the liquid/gel version. When your current batch runs out, you really should try it. You get a LOT more out of it this way. You make a 5 gallon bucket worth and only use about 1/4 – 1/2 cup per load. That’s somewhere between 160 – 320 loads per batch! And it is SO easy to make and kind of fun like a science experiment! Here’s my recipe:
1 bar soap (I use Ivory, can use Zote or Fels Naptha)
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
You heat 4 cups of water on the stove, and while it’s heating, grate the bar of soap. Add the grated soap to the water to melt it. Fill a 5 gal bucket half full with hot tap water. Add Washing Soda, Borax, and melted soap/water. Stir until all is dissolved. Fill bucket the rest of the way with hot water. Stir it up, loosely cover with a towel or something, then let it sit overnight. The next day you will find the liquid has turned into a gel-like substance. Stir it up and go ahead and use it! Often the gel and liquid will separate a little and this is okay, it will still work fine. You can just stir it and include some liquid and gel in each use if you’re concerned.
What I do is take out enough to fill an empty milk jug and use that to dispense the soap for each wash. We LOVE it! I think you’ll find the savings much greater with this method. Plus it works great in our front loader.
Thanks for your awesome site!
I also have a front loader and really want to try this! My GE washer (HE) has a pullout drawer to add the detergent, do you just add it to the liquid place like a normal liquid detergent? I just want to make sure I do it right. I’m going to try and find all of the ingredients tomorrow and try it!!
Ivory is one of the harshest soaps you can use on your skin–my skin always knew this, but research if you like!
Anyway, as a baby, Dreft and Borax and cloth diapers were my only options (poor mom,) but at least they still had diaper service then!
As to these ingredients, great to have on hand anyway, Borax does a million great things, but I also keep Fels Naptha next to my kitchen sink for deep hand cleaning from stains and the like. I also wet it and rub to spot clean stains on most clothing, except finer pieces. It can often be found in home & garden stores, too.
Thanks, Christy!
Another way to save money on laundry is to use a clothesline instead of the dryer. You don’t have to spend all those kilowatts drying laundry. Plus, you aren’t adding heat to your home in the summer either.
Also, I just love the way my sheets smell fresh and clean after being line-dried. An added benefit is that they aren’t wrinkled at all. Also, clothes last so much longer when they are dried on the line. I do draw the line at towels and unmentionables, however. Those still go in the dryer because towels get kind of “crunchy” when line dried, and I don’t want my back-yard neighbors to see our undergarments!