The last time we talked I told you how I had temporarily dropped all of my newly frugal ways due to the surprising sickness that came with this pregnancy. Except one. Laundry detergent. I started making my own detergent last November after watching an episode of 18 Kids and Counting and I haven’t looked back. The money saving value is so exceptional it will, at the very least, make you look twice and, at most, cause your jaw to drop and become it’s number one promoter.
For most recipes I found online there were 3 basic ingredients needed. Borax, washing soda, and laundry soap. I find these three items in my grocery store for under $10 (you can call their hotline numbers to find a store near you) or order them online.
Here are the two recipes I have tried.
Liquid: I used the Duggars recipe found here.
Powder: 1 cup Borax, 1 cup Washing Soda, and enough grated Fels-Naptha to make 2 cups (usually 1-2 bars)
Here is the full list of what I gather each time I make a large batch of detergent.
I have a large coffee can cleaned out to hold the detergent, an old cheese grater I keep just for the soap,
a plate to grate the soap onto, a little food chopper to finely chop the soap, and here’s where I appear to really go off the deep end – I keep our extra remnants of bath soap (you know the little pieces that usually fall apart and get thrown away?) and then use them as extra filler soap with the Fels-Naptha.
My large almost 3 pound coffee can will hold a triple batch and this lasts us months.
I grate the Fels-Naptha and remnant soap, then put it in the chopper to make it super fine. I dump the soap into the coffee can at this point, add the 3 cups Borax and 3 cups Washing Soda (remember – my big batch is tripled) secure the lid and shake thoroughly. And I’m through. I use less than 1/8 cup powder per large load.
I have consistently used 20 Mule Team Borax and Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, but I have tried several different types of soaps – Pink Zote Soap and regular Zote Soap. They all worked great I just happened to like the Fels-Naptha the best. It’s a harder soap – I like the way it grates and I like the smell of it a little better. And speaking of the smell, the fragrance is very light before washing. After washing, the clothes have no noticeable odor. At all. Even in that first trimester. I, personally, like a stronger smell to my clothes, so with all the money saved on detergent I began buying the off-brand fabric softeners just to make my clothes smell like what I’m used to.
In my brief time making detergent I’ve learned a few things. There are lots of recipes out there. I began with the recipe they gave on television – it was a liquid version. It worked fine for us and I have at least two friends who still opt for the liquid recipe – it does seem to go a little further. I switched to powder when I got pregnant and loved the ease of it so much that I haven’t gone back. I had to tweak ours a bit, which I read later may have been due to the hardness of our water. Maybe. Though I’m fairly certain mine was due to my general goofiness.
For instance, my local Wal-Mart did not carry the Washing Soda and I figured since it and Baking Soda were both made by Arm & Hammer and they both had Soda in the name that they couldn’t be that different, right? Not so. At least, not in the same ratios. After one batch made with the Baking Soda our clothes were looking very dingy. I became disheartened and almost gave up. But after reviewing my recipe, decided to do a search of the bigger city for the real stuff and actually give the real recipe a try. (Novel concept, right?) It worked like a charm. Our clothes came out beautifully clean.
Here is another site with lots of versions of the recipe.
So, tell me, do you use homemade laundry detergent? If so, how long have you been doing it and what’s your recipe? If not, but think you want to try this, be sure to come back and tell us how it works out and if you’ll continue.
Happy soap making!!
Suzanne is wife to one and mama to four and a half. The little ones are 2 boys ages 7 and 6, a girl who’s 4, a wild toddler boy who’s 2 and a new baby boy expected this October. She eclecticly unschools with lapbooks the Charlotte Mason way. In other words, she doesn’t have the slightest clue what she’s doing, but does it anyway. Be sure to stop by her personal blog at TheJoyfulChaos.
I had all the plans to do this, this summer. BUT we are now moving so I will wait until the fall.
Tracy´s last blog ..Our Plans
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Pamela Reply:
September 5th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Wow, with the naptha thing, you are risking your health to save a few bucks. Hopefully, this won’t lead to spending more money on health care costs such as allergy medications or worse, chemotherapy treatments somewhere down the road.
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I have been doing this for about 4 years now. I use baking soda instead of washing soda and ivory soap (true soap, not detergent just like Fels Naptha) instead of fels naptha. I used the original recipe first for a good long while but then switched (slightly less expensive) and it does just as well!
Rachael
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I’ve been making our own laundry detergent for over a year now. I switched the same time I became a “no poo” gal. (No shampoo). I too use Ivory soap and make Recipe #9 on Tipnut. We have 7 kids so I make larger batches! It works great and even gets the grease and dirt out of my husband’s clothes. We farm so he gets really dirty by the end of the day. I still occasionally have to use a can of Coke when washing his clothes to get out the grease but not as much as I used to when using regular store bought detergent.
Chocolate on my Cranium´s last blog ..Nothing is Swifter
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Yikes. A can of coke. And I drink that?
Anyway, I’ve been making your powder recipe for 3 months and I couldn’t be happier! Can’t imagine going back down the laundry aisle for the expensive stuff. AND–if you have a washer that requires special detergent (like I do now) this stuff does the trick b/c it doesn’t foam up. Love it.
brenda´s last blog ..Insomnia
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I made our detergant, but then got away from it out of pure laziness.
/ You have inspired me to pickk it back up again, it is an easy way to save money and honestly the clothes came out good or better then name brands.
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I use exactly the same recipe for powder detergent as you – I even have both Fels Naptha and pink Zote. I prefer the Fels Naptha for the same reasons as you – scent, hardness. I switched a few months ago – no complaints. I make up a quart at a time for our little family of 3.
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Hi! I’ve been making my own laundry soap for almost a year now! We prefer the liquid. We use Ivory soap, washing soda, sea salt, and Borax. I will NEVER go back. Even when we travel/go camping, we take our detergent along with us! We do sometimes add fresh/dried lavender to it after it’s cooled off some. Other than that, we are good to go! I have also heard that using a piece of tinfoil in the dryer works as well as dryer sheets, but I have not tried it. I kind of like the smell of the dryer sheets!
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Thank you for this post! I am going to try your recipe – it looks very easy. The liquid one seems a little messy and more complicated (although I normally buy liquid laundry soap). I have been wanting to try to make my own, and your recipe is so easy – I’m definately going to try it after my next grocery store visit to get the ingredients. Thanks!
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Awesome tutorial!
We’ve had the ingerdients in our basement forever and just haven’t gotten around to making our own!
Now it seems we can do it by simply following your tutorial
Thanks!
Todd´s last blog ..Deep Bed Gardening / Double Digging
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I watched the same episode and bought their book too. I have 8 children and we’re expecting a boy in December. We have been making the soap since January. I do 4-5 loads everyday and it takes me about 20 minutes to make a batch of soap. We pre-grate the Fels-Naptha bar and I store it in little reusable containers that I only use for soap. Then I use the liquid method and have a 5 gallon bucket I got at Home Depot. It costs about $3.00 to make and lasts me a month. I have saved so much. I have various allergies in the family and this is the only laundry soap that no one has any problems with.
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I have been making the liquid since Febuary. It is so easy and it last for months. I also us fels naptha, borax and washing soda.
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I posted my homemade laundry soap recipe a few weeks ago on my blog – the same recipe as yours. I love it and don’t plan on going back to the store-bought stuff ever again! =)
http://southbreezefarm.blogspot.com/2009/07/laundry-soap.html
Leah´s last blog ..Handmade Cards
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Booo
they don’t sell that stuff at our overseas commissary… I’ll have to check this out again when we move back to the states 
My friend just moved back to the states and has started making her own detergent
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