I’ve gotten a few emails asking for a homemade laundry soap recipe. I’ll admit – I don’t make it (gasp!) But, because I wanted to help those asking, I found an awesome-sauce guest blogger who does and she’s sharing her secret! So let’s welcome Kristin from Organizing Life with Less…
I have always been skeptical about homemade laundry detergent, whether liquid or powder. I have read countless articles on making homemade detergent, but I was still skeptical.
Then I decided to do the research.
The more I read, the more I realized that yes, it would be worth.
But would it really work
I decided to do a “smaller” batch and give it a whirl.
The verdict: WORTH EVERY PENNY!
I am not sure why I was so fearful. It was a tried and true recipe. Before I knew it, one day I found myself at the checkout line, with all of these crazy ingredients. I decided to stick with the powdered version as I was lazy and didn’t want to deal with the liquid. The liquid version sounded too complicated (even though I don’t think it is). I just figured with the powder version, all I had to do was mix everything up; can’t get much easier than that!
Homemade Laundry Detergent
*this post contains affiliate links – which means I make a tiny portion of the sale with no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting my blog!*
Ingredients:
3 cups Borax
2 cups washing soda
1 bar Fels Naptha soap (or bar of your choice)
3/4 cup baking soda
4 1/2 cups oxygen bleach
1 cup fabric softener crystals
- You can find a set to buy the Fels Naptha, Borax & Washing Soda all together on Amazon HERE.
- Find the OxyClean on Amazon HERE
- Baking Soda Available HERE
- Laundry Crystals found HERE
Directions:
1. Grate the Fels Naptha bar with the smallest holes possible (without the soap getting stuck)
2. Add the rest of the ingredients.
3. Mix well.
Note: Use about 2 tablespoons for non-HE and HE washing machines. I have also been told that you can use your food processor to grate the bar of soap (I have not tried this personally, so feel free to be the guinea pig).
Take your ingredients:
Grate the soap
Mix all of the ingredients together
Voila!
I am not sure I will ever go back to store-bought laundry detergent. Granted, DIY is a way to my heart. I have to say the quality and smell of my newly washed clothes has been worth the process AND WORTH EVERY PENNY!
Karen says
I have been doing this for quite some time, minus the oxygen bleach. I’ll have to try adding that. I am one who grates my Fels Naptha in my food processor. It is so very quick and easy, I abandoned the grater altogether. The food processor reduces the size of the soap flakes/pieces so that it mixes easily and thoroughly with the powder ingredients. I have never tried the liquid method. In the summer when I’ve been doing a lot of yard work and gardening, I basically uses this as a booster to regular detergent (liquid). I have never been brave enough to tackle the deep dirt from outside with just this homemade detergent, though others say it works fine. The thing you have to realize is that it’s not going to foam up like standard store-bought detergent. It won’t look sudsy, and at first that was off-putting, until I read that the sudsing isn’t the important thing, It’s cheap, and it looks pretty if you use Fels Naptha due to the lemon yellow color against the other powders! I keep mine in a clear container for that reason. Weird, I know!
Dawn says
I make my own dishwasher detergent and love it. It works the same as cascade for just pennies. I always get my laundry detergent with coupons for pennies so I never bother making my own. I do think everyone should give it a try.
Tiffany says
I would love to know your dishwasher detergent recipe. I also coupon so I get my detergent pretty cheap most of the time.
condoblues says
I use my food processor to grate/chop the soap for homemade laundry detergent and it works fine. I like to use Zote over Fels Naptha because Zote has optical brighteners so I can skip adding oxygen bleach to my recipe. If I have any little slivers of bar soap, I stick those in my laundry soap too.
Becky K. says
I make my own liquid laundry detergent and love it. Actually, hubby helps by getting out his large mixer attachment for his drill. It makes my day to see him stirring the liquid in a five gallon bucket. We have been so pleased with the results both in cost effectiveness and performance.
Carol says
I have been making my own laundry soap for several months now. I just use Fels Naptha, the borax and washing soda. I melt the shredded (1/2) bar in 4 cups of water. I then add that to 3 gallons of water, add 1/2 cup borax and 1/2 cup washing soda. Stir, cover and let sit for 24 hours. Then stir well and put in gallon containers. I make this for my children who love it also and have their own homes and families. Use 1/2 to 1 cup per load depending on size of load and how dirty the clothes are. Just shake well before using.
Michelle says
I made my own laundry detergent this summer using the ingredients you used except the crystals.I love this detergent. It is so economical and it last forever. I made the whole recipe and I still have over half of it left.
I guess I can be your guinea pig because I used my food processor to grate the bars of soap. I tried doing it by hand but I made the full version and grating three bars would have taken me forever. My husband was a bit concerned when he saw me using our food processor. I told him not to worry it was just soap and the processor would be extra clean. No harm was done to the processor when making the detergent.
I love this detergent and am a little sad I can no longer use it. We just bought a new washer and I was told to only use HE detergent or it may cause the machine to not function properly. But I may try using it again.
Sarah says
I have an HE washer and have been using my homemade detergent in it for years. No harm done at all!
Lynd says
Michelle,
This homemade detergent will work great and not harm your HE machine. It’s actually perfect for an HE because the homemade version is a low suds and that”s how HE detergent differs from regular detergent. I’ve been using a homemade version in my HE for almost 2 years with no problem.
Julie says
We just bought a new HE washer 7 months ago. We started having problems and had to have it serviced. The technician told us it was clogged from using the tide pods the dealer had recommended. He told us any detergent would work as long as we used only a very small amount. He said the pods were twice as much detergent as needed and tat was why we had problems. I now make my own detergent use 1 Tablespoon and have had no problems.
carolynn says
god to know that! you’d thinnk the manufacturer would know these things before sponsoring a product.
Gina Luker says
I’m not sure I understand? This isn’t a sponsored post.
Alexis E. says
I’ve made my own laundry soap for a couple of years using three of these ingredients. I love it. I have to say though that throwing the soap into my cuisineart has been the best time saver! Worth a try and easy to clean. Plus, it’s just soap so nothing gross.
lady says
I make the simpler version, just the fels naptha, washing soda and borax…..it works for everything and smells clean and I love it.
Sandra at Thistle Cove Farm says
I’ve made this but have to tell you, without the OxyClean, it doesn’t work in hard, limestone, water. Even with the addition of Baking soda or Borax.
Brandy says
When using borax & washing soda, it is not necessary to use oxyclean, as the first two ingredients together accomplish the same thing as the later.
Colleen says
Well I did put that fels napa soap in my brand new food processor what a mistake! Omgosh the fumes were horrid and the stuff stuck to the plastic, personally I will never do that again. My recipe is sl different and as soon as I can I will buy the items I don’t have I think it’s better for our skin and no fillers ;).
Frances says
I am going to give this a try. I use to make the liquid quit a long time ago. Got tired of melting everything lol. Took a long time and it was hard to carry that big bucket down to my basement. I did it in large amounts because boys are dirty kids lol.
I have always wanted a power version and here it is. Oh, and no basement to carry down to anymore 🙂
Thank you so much. Do you mind if I post this to my Facebook for others to see?
Suzanna R. says
I’ve been making my own detergent from this recipe for a while now, except that I use the Zote instead of Fels Napa. Wally World carries a box of the Zote flakes, which is equal to the Zote bar soap amount needed for the recipe. That way I don’t have to deal with grating it. I use all of the ingredients you show in your picture above, except I use the entire box, and instead of only one bottle of the scented crystals I use three. (I like my laundry to smell really fresh when I pull it out of the dryer). I dump it all into a big 5-gallon bucket, close the lid, and have hubby shake it all up like crazy for me! Then I put it into one of those big, giant glass jars with lid from Wally World, they are $10. It lasts forever, and smells SO good!
Lynn says
I have been making the powdered version for a couple years now and LOVE it!! Saves $, smells great, and even my hubby (formerly a devoted Tide user) loves it. We also add vinegar to the rinse cycle to cut down on static cling and as a fabric softener. Works WONDERS!!!! And NO, it doesn’t leave any vinegar smell by the time it’s done in the dryer. This way I cut my dryer sheets in half and still have no static cling issues and things are so soft, especially towels!
Pauline says
Wow, what a lot of extra effort. I have been washing my laundry in a 50/50 mix of borax and washing soda for years, usually in cold water. It comes out fine. It seems to me that using the OxyClean and the Purex rather defeats the purpose (for me at least) of making your own. I do it to cut down on chemical use.
carolynn says
lucky you, that can buy any brand of detergent out there!!! this recipe is interesting because at the moment, in Venezuela, laundry detergent cannot be found…. i am not sure i could get Borax either, but i will look… i have been soaping up each article of clothing with a bar of laundry soap – blue or white… and grating a little extra into the tub… the clothes are clean, but they don’t smell as nice… no perfumes in the soap…this is plausible.
Amy says
I use the same with variation ZOTES soap has Flakes! It is the same as 2 bars and costs $0.12 more than the bars (I have 8 kids I quadruple the recipe). No more grating! 🙂
Tammy says
I have been making my own laundry detergent for over a year. I use either Borax or Oxyclean, not both, and very little crystals as it aggrevates my grandson’s eczema. I prefer Castile bar soap over FelsNaptha and use a large knife to shave it down then chop it up a bit. I then mux everything together then put it in my food processor. It works great when you have the dry ingrediants with the bar soap. I use a heaping tablespoon per load. It gets out even the toughest stsins. Will never go back to store bought.
Tiffany says
How many loads does this recipe make and final cost per load? Thanks!
Gina Luker says
Hey Tiffany,
This recipe is not mine, it is a blogger friends, Kristin from Organizing Life with Less…
You can check out her blog and ask her, I am sure she would behappy to let you in on her secrets 🙂
Mary Ann Mast says
Oh yes this is my go to laundry soap. I used to make liquid one til I found the powdered one. It is so much easier, I use a grater like is pictured . Not hard at all, my batch is larger so only need to make it about every 4 months.
Gina Luker says
Good for you Mary Ann, it is so easy!