making homemade laundry detergent

16 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
16 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
16 years ago
ya'll make me tired :)
I just buy it on sale with coupons!
Tally HO!
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princealbert
16 years ago
Does the soap work well in the HE machines??
pa
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
16 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
16 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
16 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
15 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
15 years ago
MY DIL has one of those new front loader HE washing machines and just started making her own soap.
pjtexgirl
15 years ago
I'm loving the Tide spam. I have a front load HE machine and am wondering the same thing.
qumum
14 years ago
can you use a bottle of liquid soap like palmolive or dawn instead of the bar of soap???
Donna
denisew
Original Author
14 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
11 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.