Have you seen the price of name-brand laundry soap lately? You can easily spend over $20 on a large box of powdered detergent. It’s enough to make you scream. That might make you popular in a Halloween haunted house, but it doesn’t solve your laundry issues. Have you ever asked yourself, “How can I make soap?” Here’s a low-cost alternative on homemade laundry soap, how to make it using old-fashioned ingredients, a half-hour of your time, a little elbow grease and a lot less money.
When you’re at the grocery store, look in the hand soap section and seek out the bars of soap. You’re looking for Fels-Naptha soap. This stuff is 100 years old. Probably your grandmother and maybe even her mom used this soap. Buy three bars. They’ll cost about a dollar a bar. If you can’t find Fels-Naptha in the hand soap area, try looking in the laundry detergent area, the location for the next two ingredients.
After Fels-Naptha soap, find Arm & Hammer washing soda, NOT baking soda. It usually comes in a 55-ounce yellow box. You want washing soda for its extra cleaning abilities. When you have bad stains on your clothes, regular baking soda won’t cut it.
Next, locate 20 Mule Team Borax. It comes in a mainly white 76-ounce box. The washing soda and the Borax costs about $4.50, each, but these two boxes will make about 3-4 batches of laundry detergent. Each batch lasts about two months for normal laundry washing, or a month and a half with teenagers – maybe a month with a teenage girl in the house.
Buy a cheap flat, metal food grater from the food section of your store. Also, buy a one-cup measuring cup and a one-eighth cup measurer. Dedicate all of these items to laundry-making. You don’t really want to see your family foaming at the mouth while eating at the dinner table because you accidently mixed laundry-making items into your food-making tools.
Plan on spending about 30 minutes in your exercise on how to make soap. Put on a pair of disposable gloves.
Take an old ice cream plastic gallon bucket, or any comparable enclosed container and measure in two cups of Arm & Hammer washing soda.
Next, add two cups of 20 Mule Team Borax.
Both products can be lumpy, especially if they’ve been opened over time. Break up the lumps. That’s the fun part.
Next, place your flat grater over the top of the bucket and one after the other, grate your three bars of Fels-Naptha soap directly into the bucket.
This is the long part of the activity of soap and how you make it. Once the bars have been grated, mix the shredded Fels-Naptha bar soap into the powders, gently stirring and squeezing to break up the soap and any extra lumps in the powders.
Voila! you have laundry detergent. When you’re ready to use your soap, start the water in your washing machine. Use the one-eighth measuring cup to measure your detergent.
If you have soft water, one measuring cup is enough soap. If your water is as hard as nails, use one and one-half of your of your one-eighth measuring cup. These amounts will wash a large load of laundry. You might find your clothes cleaner with this homemade soap, compared to the expensive brand-name varieties.
Allow you’re washing machine to fill half-full of water before adding your clothes. There’s a reason for waiting. This allows your home-made laundry soap to dissolve before adding clothes. If you’re impatient and put the clothes in too soon, you’ll have little golden flecks of Fels-Naptha soap all over your laundry.
Your new home-made laundry detergent also makes a great pre-treater if you have some really nasty stains. Place half a scoop of detergent in a bucket of warm water, swish the water around to let the soap dissolve. Then, soak your clothes overnight. Next morning, wash your stained clothes in the washing machine as usual.
Remember to wash your grater and set it out to dry when you’re done making the soap. The last thing you want is Fels-Naptha turning your metal grater into something that looks like rusty metal falling off a junked car.
Contents
So, here’s your list for visiting the grocery store:
- 3 bars Fels-Naptha soap (5.5 oz each)
- 1 box Arm & Hammer washing soda (55-oz)
- 1 box 20 Mule Team Borax (76-oz)
- 1 flat grater
- 1 measuring cup (1-cup size)
- 1 measurer (1/8 cup size)
- Disposable gloves
- Gallon sized plastic container with a lid (if you don’t have a used ice cream bucket)
And, here’s a recipe for soap and how to make it:
- Put on disposable gloves
- Measure 2 cups washing soda into your plastic gallon container
- Measure 2 cups of Borax into the container
- Break up lumps
- Place grater over container
- Grate 3 bars of Fels-Naptha into container
- Mix
And, to use your inexpensive homemade detergent:
- Start water running in your washing machine
- Measure 1 to 1½ measurer (1/8th cup size) into your washing machine
- Let machine half fill with water to allow soap to dissolve
- Put in clothes
You’ll save money while stretching your laundry detergent dollars over several months with your new homemade soap. Better yet, your clothes might come out cleaner and you won’t scare anyone with a Halloween scream at the grocery store’s detergent aisle.
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Note from Ro: I just asked Dick and Mary about using the soap in front-loading machines and this is what they said, “We don’t have experience with a front loader, but this is what we would suggest. Mix the homemade soap in 4 cups of boiling water until dissolved and then add to the washing machine the same way you would if you were putting in liquid detergent. The whole point is you need to dissolve the grated Fels-Naptha flakes. This should do the trick.”
This s great recipe. but wondering, if there is anyway to make it liquid soap. Our Washing machine will only add a little water at first, top loaded machine, HE. We found that when we use to much soap we get bubbles all over what I mean is to much as in a tablespoon of soap. So now we use the more expenive soap and use 1 teaspoon. I love the idea of going back to the basics in cleaning.!! ty for share this!
Here’s a liquid alternative using the same ingredients as we outlined in the original blog. Take a bar of Fels-Naptha soap and grate it. Then cover it in water (about 1 cup) in a small saucepan and heat until it’s melted, stirring frequently. In a five-gallon bucket, add the grated soap mixture, one cup of washing soda, and a half-cup of borax. Then fill the bucket with hot water and stir until everything has dissolved. After sitting for 24 hours, it will gel up and work just like store-bought detergent. This soap doesn’t really suds up, so washing machines that froth at the mouth aren’t a real issue, here. Just use about 1/2 cup per load. If the ingredients of the soap separates, just give it a quick stir and it will mix back together. Don’t use the sauce pan for cooking after you’ve made this recipe. Dedicate it to soap-making. A good solution is a sauce pan from the thrift store.
My mom and I have used this recipe many times, but I use my food processor, then I wash it in the dishwasher to get out all the soap residue. I’ve never had a problem with excess soap. If it rinses out of your clothes, why wouldn’t it rinse out of your hard plastic and metal parts to a food processor. If that’s an unacceptable alternative, go to a thrift store and buy a used food processor just for that purpose. I have arthritis in my hands and grating is painful. Also, the Fels Naptha soap can be hard to find, but it is usually on the very top or very bottom shelf in the laundry aisle.
I have been making my own laundry soap for about 5 years now, I love it and I have a lot of people who I have got started on making their own. I have a liquid version that I make.
Homemade Laundry Soap
Try this recipe to make homemade laundry soap. It’s simple and you don’t need any special equipment or hard to find ingredients.
Laundry Soap is expensive and it’s something that we have to buy whether we want to or not. This is a recipe for making your own laundry soap. It is easy to make and very inexpensive. If you are concerned with saving money or are a do it yourself type of person, you will love this recipe. Your total cost for 5 gallons or so of soap should be under $1.50.
Ingredients:
1 bar heavy-duty laundry soap (found in the laundry aisle) Example: Fels Naptha
1 cup washing soda (This is not the same as baking soda, although Arm and Hammer does make the product
and it’s called “Super Washing Soda”, the box looks like a large size box of baking soda.) You should be
able to find it in the laundry aisle.
1 cup Borax
1cup Clorox 2 (* if you want to use this)
Procedure:
1. Grate the bar of soap into a saucepan. Use the part on the cheese grater that is for hard cheeses and chocolate. Add sufficient water to cover the soap about 2 inches. Let it soak up the water overnight. (This step is not essential, but will make it much easier to melt the soap.
2. When ready to make soap, fill a bucket with 2 gallons warm water. This will be easier if you set it in the bathtub.
3. Put the saucepan with the soap and water on the burner on medium-high heat. Cook, stirring with a whisk continuously until soap is melted. When melted, pour the hot soap into the bucket then add washing soda. Do not reverse this order. Allow the mixture to cool. When cool, stir again well.
4. Use about 1/2 cups of this soap per large load.
Notes:
Do not expect this soap to lather up. Just because we don’t see a lot of suds, doesn’t mean it isn’t working. In fact, some of the commercial soaps are hard to rinse out and leave a sudsy film on your clothes. Try washing some of your clothes that have already been washed without adding any additional soap; you will be surprised at the amount of suds that come out of the supposed clean clothes. These suds tend to cause allergic reactions and also make your clothes appear dull.
Since no one wants dull clothes, the manufacturers can get you to spend more money on extra products to help with this problem. You will probably find that you don’t need to add any additional fabric softeners when using this homemade recipe.
If you have hard water problems, try using a soap that is especially made for hard water like Kirk’s Castille soap.
* You can also make a version for delicates by using a mild soap like Ivory. This is good for washing baby clothes.
WOW!! These laundry soap recipes are AWESOME!!! Thank you so much!! When going grocery shopping, my pet peeves are light bulbs, toilet paper and laundry soap! Mainly because they all run out so fast and are expensive! Now, if someone could just figure out how to make the other two at home…….
For a liquid recipe using the same ingredients go to >>>http://smalltowngirl68.blogspot.com/search/label/homemade%20laundry%20soap.
I’ve read about doing this for years & never did. I’m 77 now & I think it’s time, with the cost of soap so hi. & our money getting so scarce. Thank U girls so much.
I have been making laundry soap for 2 years now and have tried both the powered & the liquid. I prefer the liquid over the powder and it isn’t difficult at all. I also make it in a concentrated form so I don’t have to store alot of bottles or containers. Although I have used Fels-Naptha, I find that I like Zote much better and is only .59 for a regular size bar & .99 for a big double bar (can be found at Wal-Mart & other local markets), which is significantly less than the Fels-Naptha where we are. Zote is much easier to grate and sometimes I just slice it up and let it dissolve while bringing it to a boil.
Here are my directions:
2 bars Zote Laundry Bar
1 cup Borax
2 cups washing soda
1/2-1 oz. essential oil for fragrance (optional)
Fill a large pot 1/4 -1/2 full of water, add grated/thinly sliced Zote (laundry bar), stir, (I use a whisk) and dissolve over medium heat until soap is completely melted. Add the Borax & Washing Soda, stir well until powder is completely dissolved. Fill the pot with more hot water (from the tap) and stir until mixed well. Add fragrance oil if desired and stir well again. Let the mixture sit until cool enough to pour/ladle into your wide mouth container(s). Stir several times during the cooling process. Pour into wide mouth containers.
This will become like a stiffened gel. Scoop out 1/2 cup per normal load. You don’t need to bother letting the soap dissolve before putting in your clothes. For stubborn stains, apply directly to clothes and work in the spot, then wash as usual.
if you prefer to use it in a thinner form, just add more water to the pot or containers. This mixture lasts me about 2-3 months.(Family of 4)
Approxmately 30 min. to make from start to finish. Cooling time not factored.
Roxane, You don’t say what size the bars of of Zote are that you use in the recipe. Hopefully you will; see this and answer! BTW, Thanks for the recipe!
Going to let Dick and Mary answer this one, too. They’re the soap experts!
We have no experience with Zote, but a quick check shows that the small bars are 7 ounces and the large bars of Zote are 14.1 ounces. Thanks for the great info about Zote. We’re going to look for it.
Mary & Dick Melvin
You don’t say what size pot and how much water. That makes a big difference in the concentration—how strong the soap is. You say to use a 1/2 cup but without knowing the water amount the concentration could be quite different depending on how much water a person used in making it. Thanks for the recipe–I am going to try it for a first time this week. Please respond if possible with water amounts. Thanks so much.
Hi Diane,
I’ve just emailed Dick and Mary. They[‘ll be along and help us before too long, I’m sure. I’ve never personally made it before, which is why it’s cool to have them on as blog writers now. These guys live a very interesting life and will add spice to what’s happening here.
We have a top-loading washing machine and we use powdered detergent, so we don’t have experience with liquid detergent in a top-loading machine. We just talked with a friend who has a front-loading washing machine and posted her recipe above in answer to Dorothy’s question. A sauce pan holds 3 quarts.
Mary & Dick Melvin
I followed this recipe, omitting the fragrance, and we LOVE this laundry soap. Even my husband notices his clothes are clean and smell clean. I used to like the commercial laundry soap scents, but not I am used to this more natural scent and I love it. Zote is easily found where I live and imparts a nice scent. I am very happy that Ro started posting soap recipes. I have one mild concern… does it build up om the washer and/or pipes after a time, or does the washing soda and Borax take care of that? I remember using bar soap int he shower before body wash came along and it would leave a filmy reside on tile and glass doors. Thank you!
We don’t use Zote, but, we can say with confidence that our recipe, listed in the original blog (above), does not leave residue in the washing machine.
Do any of these work in the He detergent machines?
We don’t have experience with HE (high efficiency) washing machines. According to the online manuals for HE machines, you are required to use HE detergent. Lesser amounts of regular detergent create too many suds and harm the machine. Since too many suds is the issue, and due to the fact that the soap we make doesn’t suds up, one would think it should work. However, you’re at your own risk using this soap in an HE washing machine, since all HE washing machine manufacturers demand the use of HE detergent. We don’t want to recommend something that voids your warranty.
Mary & Dick Melvin
Thanks Mary, Dick. Appreciate the comments. Not sure what to do? I’ll see if I can check with them maybe.
I have a he washer and have not had any issues using my homemade detergent.
Great news! Thanks for the comment. It should help those who own HE washing machines.
You don’t mention the issue of washing with cold water (since we’re talking about saving money). As far as I know, soap doesn’t rinse out with cold water and your recipe is NOT detergent, it’s soap. My washer is an Energy Star washer and won’t rinse with hot water. The best it will do is wash and rinse with warm water. If I want to wash with hot water, I have to rinse with cold water (unless I baby-sit the stupid thing!). Since it’s a front-loader, I have to do an extra rinse anyway, so I usually do it with warm water if I washed with hot water, but I don’t know how much of the soap it would rinse out. Thanks!
We only use cold water to both wash and rinse. Our trick is not to load the washing machine with too many clothes. After a day on the clothesline, our clothes come out fine. This is with a top-load machine. Thanks for your input about front-load washing machines.
I have a whole box of Fels-Naptha that was my aunt’s! Can’t wait to get the other ingredients to make laundry soap!