Homemade Laundry Soap

There are many suggestions for how to make homemade laundry detergent.  It seems all of them contain Borax, washing soda, and Fels Naptha (or some similar bar soap).  Then some recipes suggest also adding baking soda, Oxy-Clean, and/or some sort of scent.  All of the recipes claim that homemade laundry detergent is less harmful and less expensive.  So, I decided to give homemade laundry detergent a try!  The upfront cost is more expensive than buying non-homemade laundry detergent, but per load is much cheaper (see cost analysis below).  If you can afford fronting the money to make your own, you will save in the long run!

My Recipe (a combination of many found online):

Ingredients:

• Borax
• Borax controls odor, disinfects, and is a detergent booster.  It helps remove tough stains as well.
• You'll need one 4 lb 12 oz box
• I bought my Borax from Dominick's grocery store for $6.10 for the 4 lb 12 oz box which is much cheaper than the Amazon link I've attached above.  I'd suggest looking at your local grocery store in the laundry detergent aisle before buying from Amazon!
• Washing Soda
• Washing Soda is a degreaser, stain remover, and can make your water softer, which helps your detergent foam better.  It also helps get rid of odors.
• You'll need one 3 lb 7 oz box (55 oz box).
• Fels Naptha
• Fels Naptha is a laundry bar soap.  It can be used alone to pre-treat stains on your laundry.
• You'll need 3 bars of this soap.
• Note: You could also use Zote laundry soap which will make your finished laundry soap pink rather than yellow :)
• Baking Soda
• I add this for extra cleaning power because it helps with stain removal, softening the water to help the detergent foam better, odor removal, and softening fabric.
• You'll need 4 lb.  If you buy from the link here, you'll have extra.  You'll only need about 7 1/2 cups.
• Oxy-Clean
• I add this for extra stain fighting power which is still gentle enough for your colored clothing.
• You'll need 2 lb.  If you buy from the link here, you'll have extra.  You'll only need about 3 1/2 cups.
• I decided not to use any scent.  The purpose is to save money!  I also have sensitive skin, so I'm used to using unscented laundry detergent.  One day, I'd like to try +Scentsy.  They have so many interesting scents.

Tools:

• Cheese grater or food processor to grate and powder the Fels Naptha
  
  

Instructions:

1. Grate the Fels Naptha.  It will for a thick powder like this:
   
   
   

   
   Alternatively, you can powder/grate the soap using a food processor.  I have never done it this way, but many people recommend it.
2. Put all the ingredients into a container large enough to be able to mix them all together.  I did not have a large enough container so I just used a garbage bag.  That works too!
3. Move your mixture to an airtight container.  I bought two glass containers from +The Container Store.  They work great, and I think they're really cute!  I bought the 5.3 quart ones.
   

How to Use:

Use two tablespoons per load of laundry.

Tips

• You may want to wear a bandana or a medical mask over your nose and mouth while making your homemade laundry detergent.  The powder easily gets in the air and can irritate your nose.
• If you do not have washing soda or cannot find it, you can easily make your own with just an oven and baking soda.  I tried this recipe when I was in a pinch, and the resulting laundry soap still worked great!
• Afraid to buy in bulk because you do not know if you can use up the leftovers?  All of the ingredients can be used for other household tasks!
• Borax uses: remove grease from dirty dishes, remove soap scum, remove hard water deposits, clean the garbage disposal, get tough stains out of rugs, boost the cleaning power of your dishwasher detergent
• Washing Soda uses: pretreat stains on clothing, dissolve hard water soap scum in the bathroom, dissolve grease in the kitchen
• Fels Naptha uses: pretreat stains on clothing, rumored to be a good fertilizer
• Baking Soda uses: deodorize your refrigerator, freshen breath, use in the shower on your hair as it removes residue from hair products, clean silver, skin exfoliator, remove oil stains, dissolve grease, deodorize carpets
• OxyClean uses: pretreat stains, freshen your disposal, clean your dishwasher, clean tile around a pool
• You will probably want to store your homemade laundry soap in some container with an easily removable lid.  I tried using a plastic bag with my first batch.  Every time I opened the bag, powder went everywhere!

Cost Breakdown

• Borax: $6.10 for the box.  We used the whole box.
• Washing Soda: $9.45 for a 55 oz. box.  We used the whole box.
• Fels Naptha: $10.48 for four bars.  We used 3 bars which is $7.68 for the batch.
• Backing Soda: $18.79 for a 13.5 pound bag.  We used 4 lb which is about $5.57 for the batch.
• OxyClean: $13.67 for a 7.22 pound container.  We used 2 lb which is about $3.79 for the batch.

Upfront cost of ingredients: $58.49

Total cost per batch: $32.59

Amount of laundry detergent made per batch: About 6.3 quarts ~ 403 tablespoons ~ 201 loads of laundry

Cost per load of homemade laundry detergent: $32.59 / 201 loads ~ $0.16

Cost per load of Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent (using one packet per load) = $14.99 / 50 loads ~ $0.30 per load

It will cost me about half as much to do laundry with the homemade laundry!!