Homemade laundry detergent is cheaper than commercial laundry detergent, less toxic and easy to make. Not only that, it works. And smells good, too.
What’s not to love about all that?
Here are all the supplies you need:
A bar of soap (you can use any kind you’d like, but the more natural you use, the less toxic your final product. I use either Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day or Fels Naptha)
2 cups washing soda (don’t confuse this with baking soda—it’s made by the same people, but found in the laundry detergent aisle at the grocery store, not the baking aisle)
2 cups borax (found near the washing soda)
½ cup Epsom salts
Optional: A few drops of essential oils (this will not only scent your soap, but if you pick the right kinds of oils, will also boost the cleaning power—like lemon, for instance, that is a good cleaner)
You will also need a big pot, a cheese grater and some containers to put the soap in (I recycled my old commercial laundry soap containers). A funnel might be helpful, too, depending on the containers you’re placing the homemade soap in.
(PS: I found this bundled together over at Amazon: a box each of washing soda and borax and 3 bars of Fels Naptha for easy shopping.)
Steps to Homemade Laundry Detergent:
Grate the bar of soap
Add the grated soap and a quart or so of water to the pot. Stir over medium heat until the soap is dissolved. (It will just look like a pot of sudsy water at this point, but don’t worry, it won’t stay like that.)
Once the soap is dissolved, remove from the heat and add the other ingredients, stirring until dissolved.
Add another two gallons of water and stir well. Pour into storage containers.
Shake contents well before using. Add ¼-1/2 cup to a load of laundry. (Just an FYI, because there aren’t a bunch of fake chemicals in this soap to cause it to get all bubbly, you might be tempted to add EXTRA homemade soap. Don’t. It works well without the suds. We’re just ‘programed’ to think suds = cleaner. But really, suds = chemicals.)
Also, if you need super heavy power laundry soap, add double the amount of washing soda or extra grated soap. You can also decrease the amount of water you add to make it super concentrated, therefore using less soap per load of clothes. With a little experimentation, you’ll get it just how you like it.
You can easily make over SEVEN gallons of homemade laundry soap for about $30. Less money, less toxins and hardly any effort at all. It’s a win-win!
