making homemade laundry detergent

13 years ago

I'm on my second batch and absolutely love using this homemade laundry detergent and wanted to share this with the Texas Gardening folks. A friend told me about this and I also read an article about it, so had to try it. It is so easy and I'm saving at least $200 a year - compared to using Tide, Cheer or any of those other expensive laundry detergents. (I have three boys, so do a lot of laundry.) Here is how to make it. You'll need:

Clean 5-gallon bucket with a lid

1 bar of inexpensive soap (Ivory is a good choice)

4 cups water

3 gallons water

1/2 cup washing soda (not baking soda)

1/2 cup borax

sauce pan

grater

Start by putting the 4 cups of water in a sauce pan. Grate 1/3 bar of the soap into the sauce pan. Heat on stove top on low until soap has dissolved. Add to 3 gallons of water in the 5 gallon bucket. Add the washing soda and the borax. Stir until dissolved. Let it sit overnight and it will get a little thick. It is now ready to use. Add about 1 cup of homemade detergent to your washing machine when you do laundry. Clothes come out clean and soft and smelling great! They won't be perfumy, but instead have a nice clean smell. Even my oldest son's stinky t-shirts smell great! ;-)

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Comments (12)

melvalena
13 years ago
I've been making the powdered kind since around Christmas.
I find all the stuff at Kroger. My WalMart doesn't carry all of it. I mix it up in the food processor. It takes more time to wash out the food processor then it does to make it.
I keep it and a measuring spoon in an emptied Mayo jar.

* 1/2 bar of shaved bar soap (Ivory, ZOTE, Fels-Naptha)
* 1 cup of borax
* 1 cup of washing soda

use 1 tablespoon per load, or 2 if really dirty.
You have to put the soap in, and dissolve it before you put the clothes in. Usually once the water hits it, its dissolved.
You won't see sudsy water. But your clothes do get clean. I still bleach the whites though and some colors get the oxy treatment.

For those things you like fabric softener on, frugal fabric softener:

2-3 Cups Water
1 Cup Liquid Fabric Softener
Large Sponge

Combine water and liquid softener. Cut sponge in 1/2 and keep in liquid. When drying clothes, remove sponge, squeeze out excess liquid and place in dryer with clothes. When dry, just place sponge back in liquid to be used for next load.

I keep a small jar in the laundry room with a small hand towel handy to wipe my fingers with when I squeeze out the sponge. Just be careful to not put the drippy wet sponge
on light colored wet fabric. It will leave the color on the fabric.
That bottle of fabric softener is going to last a really long time using it this way.
beachplant
13 years ago
ya'll make me tired :)
I just buy it on sale with coupons!
Tally HO!
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I have been making and using various versions of homemade laundry soap for several years now. The true test of how well it works is, how well does it work over a period of time. Here are my observations using it long term. It does a terrible job of removing odors from clothing. If I wear perfume, it remains in the clothing. If I use it on my workout clothing with a lot of perspiration, it doesn't remove those odors very well either. I have noticed it doesn't do that great of a job on my white clothing and they become dingy over time, and even with the use of bleach in the wash. The reason for this is because it doesn't do such a great job of removing ground in dirt in my white socks from when I go hiking, etc. With that said, it does an OK job on clothing that isn't that soiled. I reserve using it on things like my sheets and other lightly soiled clothing. I use it mostly on my dark clothing which optical brighteners are not needed. I am a soapmaker so I end up with a lot of soap scraps to use in making this, so I continue to make it to make use of these scraps. One other thing I have noticed is that the powdered version doesn't always completely dissolve in the wash and sometimes my black clothes get "lint" all over them. I don't notice this happening when I use commercial detergent. So for whites, I use the cheap detergent in the bucket from Costco. I only use 1/2 the recommended amount and it gets my whites clean. Then the homemade detergent is used for most everything else. I make the powdered version because I don't like keeping buckets of goo sitting around. I notice that after using this for a while, I have to switch back to commercial detergent for a month or two after about a year of using the homemade soap, and then I can go back to the homemade version again. If I don't do this it just stops working so well and things are slightly dingy and the smell of "old soap" starts to build up in the clothing. (I am very picky about my laundry I guess). I use vinegar in a downy ball in order to aid in the rinsing of everything. I don't use a clothes dryer either, so stains are not set into my clothing. With that said, I will continue to use it because it is frugal for me to do so with so many soap scraps always sitting around that need to be used up.
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I don't understand the desire to have suds. Normally, the desire is to get rid of suds. The tiny bubbles don't do any cleaning. They're not in the water with the clothes, they're just bouncing around looking for some mischief to get into. I'd be happy there's no suds and if you're getting good cleaning results at a good price, you've got a good formula for your needs.
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this whole flammable pj issue is such a crock, IMHO. if your kid is in the crib during a fire, he's going to die of smoke inhalation not his pj's catching on fire. if he's running around the house, reaching across the candle you've left burning, he should be wearing his jammies, so he won't catch on fire?? what?? what if it's midday? do we not protect them then? yes, we do! we don't burn candles where they can reach, or pull on top of themselves, or maybe not at all. my DD is 14, so when she was a baby the laws were different. there was no exception for close-fitting cotton pj's. there was no exception for under 6mo. we had a heck of a time finding cotton clothes for the kid, and she sweat like a pig when dressed in poly. i'd say wash your kids clothes the way that works best for your/their noses and skin. keep your smoke detectors working. practice reasonable safety practices (ya know, like not letting the 3 yr old play with the lit candle). i'm sure you can think of something better to worry about than your kids' pj flammability (just in case you really need something to worry about)!
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rosabearr - You may want to check the ingredients in the liquid potpourri so that you don't end up with oily stains on your clothing from adding "liquid potpourri", or damage from the coloring in them. I've added essential oils and/or grapefruit seed extract (as a disinfectant) after all the ingredients are mixed together, but before they are cool and set into the "gel". If you add essential oils while it's "boiling", they will quickly dissipate from the heat and you won't have any left to add scent to the homemade soap. Check the link below for 10 recipes. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: 10 Homemade Laundry Soap Recipes
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princealbert
13 years ago
Does the soap work well in the HE machines??
pa
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
13 years ago
Thanks! I'm going to make some. Saving money sounds good. Plus, people have been telling me commercial detergents are not healthy to use, but borax and the oxy products are fine.

A friend send this. What do y'all think?

Here is a link that might be useful: Contamination in laundry detergents ...
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
13 years ago
This was among the comments on the site above:

"Homemade detergents may clean clothes but it leaves them getting stiff after the second washing. So bad that the clothes look really old and dull after they are dried."

Of course I don't know what formula for home-made laundry soap they are using that makes clothes seem 'stiff, old and dull' but I can remember way back before the age of detergents, which is different than soap, when clothes came off the clothes line looking like that. Maybe it was because of the hard water that San Antonio has and washing soda and/or borax overcomes it.

Any ideas?

Here is a link that might be useful: Laundry detergent ...
denisew
Original Author
13 years ago
Roselee - I am on my third batch and and getting ready to make a fourth and have not experienced anything getting stiff or color turning dull. I do use a fabric softening sheet in the dryer, but the clothes feel and smell clean out of the wash and out of the dryer.

It was an interesting article about the 1,4-dioxane contamination in some of the household cleaners, detergents, etc.
ruthz
13 years ago
I have one of the new washing machines.
I believe all the new ones now have the sensors and require the HE detergent.
Is anyone using the homemade laundry detergent with them.
I'm especially interested in making my own as DH has a lot of allergy skin issues.
melvalena
13 years ago
MY DIL has one of those new front loader HE washing machines and just started making her own soap.
pjtexgirl
13 years ago
I'm loving the Tide spam. I have a front load HE machine and am wondering the same thing.
qumum
12 years ago
can you use a bottle of liquid soap like palmolive or dawn instead of the bar of soap???
Donna
denisew
Original Author
12 years ago
I have not used the liquid dish soap in place of a bar soap. I always use Ivory Soap. I tried Dial bar soap once, but didn't care for the results. I feel that Ivory Soap works great and smells great. If you have a greasy stain on a piece of clothing, you could squirt a little bit of dish soap like Dawn on the spot, rub it in and let it sit a few minutes before washing it with a load of laundry using the homemade soap. I have also found degreasers like Greased Lightening to work well as a greasy spot remover. It just needs to sit about 15-30 minutes before washing.
CassGushley
9 years ago
Great stuff - was so interesting to read. I work with a commercial cleaning company that makes its own laundry detergent and I thought you all may be keen to know how its done. (It's very cheap - and - it's very good).
Dishwashing Liquid
Description: This is a high quality formulation, comparable to the leading brands.
Can be used in homes, restaurants, hotels, refectories, etc.

I will send the exact formula, ingredients, how to make it; to anyone asking. cass@gushlab.com.

making homemade laundry detergent

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melvalena

beachplant

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making homemade laundry detergent

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