This tip comes from my reader Heather…
We make our own laundry soap and it saves us a ton of money! It costs about 1 penny a load and works for any washing machine it is low suds and works great for my son who has very severe allergies and sensitive skin. It has been wonderful we have used it for about 3 years now and in 3 years have spent less than $20 on laundry soap and have enough for a long time to come still. It is easy to make and one batch lasts my family of 5 for 6 months. It saves us so much I thought I would share :)
Laundry Soap
This ends up costing 1 penny per load!!
A bucket to store it in 5gal
1 bar Zote Soap (may also use Fels Naptha.)
1 ½ cups Arm and Hammer washing soda
1 ½ cup s Twenty Mule Team Borax
Lots of Water
Heat 12 cups of water in large pot. Grate Zote soap and add to water. Stir until soap melts. Add washing soda and Borax- ingredients will foam, stir until everything is dissolved (5 minutes or so). Remove from heat.
Heat 8 cups of water in microwave (do this as soap is dissolving in water on stove) and place in 5 gallon bucket, add soap mixture and stir. Add 2 gallons plus 12 cups water and stir. You may add 1-2 oz of essential oil for a scent.
Cover and let set for 24 hours- mixture will gel*. Use ½ cup of laundry soap per load. Great for sensitive skin- dye free. Detergent will not be sudsy in washing machine. Total cost about 1 cent per load.
*Laundry soap will be a gel/liquid consistency. (you can purchase pink or white Zote- if you want it dye free, use the white).
You will need to stir the mixture up a few times over the next few hours just so it doesn’t turn into one big blob.
Products may be found in local grocery stores in the laundry isle. If they don’t have what you want, they will probably order it for you. (macey’s has everything)
Even if you do not use the detergent on a daily, regular basis, it is great to store the dry ingredients to have a year’s supply. Remember to buy several bars of soap to one box each of the other ingredients if you are only going to store it (or want to use it and have enough ingredients for a year’s supply).
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Is this safe for the HE washing machines?
Courtney above said that she uses it in her front loading HE washer and has had no problems.
Just an FYI, the Fels Naptha is 97 cents at my local Walmart. :)
Wow! Honestly, I’ve never even heard of making your own laundry detergent. I’m excited to try one of these recipes – thank you all for the tips and recipes. I can’t use anything with yellow dyes, so this is perfect and I love to save money!! Thank you Kristin for the saving money topics.
I’ve made detergent a few times and have been pleased with the result. It surprised me that it didn’t take as long to make as I though; it was really quite quick. I’ve gotten some great deals on detergent and haven’t made it in a long time, but I would make it in a heartbeat if I couldn’t find a better deal.
I got a bunch of the Purex Crystals for free at Target and added about a cup to my batch and it came out GREAT! I added it after I added the washing soda and borax it made my soap smell sooo good and now my Purex bottles will last a lot longer too since I already added them to my soap:) Just thought I’d share!
Has anyone tried using this in a front load HE washer? Please let me know!
yes i have a front load he washer. i have been using it for over a year and there are no problems.
Has anyone tried using this in a front load HE washer?
I’ve been using the Fels recipe for about 3 months now in an HE washer. No problems so far, works fine.
However, I read an article somewhere (sorry I didn’t keep the link) that this recipe had ruined 2 ladies washers. I’ve talked to several of my friends who use this recipe and they say they’ve had no problems. So, I’m not sure. I’m going to alternate between this and Purex (which can usually get for $1 or free). Anyone else know more details?
This sounds wonderful!! Thanks for all the info, however how much do you use if you have a HE washer? And can you use both the powder and liquid?
I use this very same recipe. Actually, I got it from Heather. (She is my inspiration when it comes to saving money.) Tonight I found a new use for it. My 19 month old got strawberries all over his brand new white shirt and it sat for 4 hours before I was able to treat it. I had used the last of my spray and wash the night before so I just wet the shirt a little and rubbed this soap right onto the stains. Then let them sit for about an hour and washed it. They stains came right out. I LOVE this stuff!
I found a “green” recipe in case anyone is interested! I think I’ll give it a try.
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/05/homemade-laundry-detergent-charlies-soap-nuts.html
i make the powder form as well….and with the $1/1 coupons for the Ivory soap we got a few weeks ago i stocked up and got 27 bars of soap FREE at wal-mart…so my laundry soap is going to be even cheaper then normal. I have 6 kids and we all have have sensitive skin, so this is perfect…and i do sooooooo much laundry!!!!
I do not make my own laundry detergent, but I wanted to put in a plug for fels-naptha. My son is the catcher on his high school baseball team and naturally the uniform the wear when playing home games is white. I take a bar of fels-naptha soap and rub it into the dirt stains (they are usually red clay stains) and then just wash as normal. The pants usually come out very clean. Occasionally I repeat. This soap is a miracle worker on those white ball pants and the bar of fels-naptha is only 1.29 at Ace hardware. I have spent all kinds of money on stain remover to get these pants clean and this is definitely the best out there. I know use it on most stains that may come from being outside (dirt and grass). I am hooked.
i also use this to get all kinda of stains out. all those baby stains. i just use the feltz naptha on, then i let them sit in water for a bit then wash. i am suprized by what comes out.
Does anyone use any of these with an HE washer?
Yes! Just use about 1/4 cup per load.
yes i do too. i have a front load he washer and i use about half a cup per load. but i’m probably overdoing it.
I have been making my own for about 4 months now. My recipie is
1 bar grated irish spring
1 cup washing soda
1.5 gallons of water
Put washing soda in large enough container. Add 1.5 gallons very hot water. when soap is melted add to soda water. Stir until disolved. Pour into empty and cleaned laundry container.It will thicken to gel-like.Shake before each use, I use 1/2 cup to 1 cup depending on level of dirtiness.
Judy, it says ‘super washing soda’ on the box made by Arm & Hammer…and you can use the coupons for any Arm & Hammer laundry product to get them even cheaper :)
I’ve been wanting to make my own soap, but is this recipe green, too? I’m not familiar with the Zote or Fels Naptha.
Thanks!
My liquid recipe is a little easier & I also use Ivory soap instead of the Fels Naptha–doesn’t smell bad and even better there are coupons for it :)
I like using less water with a higher concentrate of soap–here is my recipe that I LOVE–it lasts us about 2-3 months (for a family of 4) & costs about 50 cents (for 2 1/2 gallons–it’s like $4-6 for the year) for soap that I think works better than the store bought stuff…
1 bar Ivory Soap, grated
1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup oxi-clean
Add Borax, Washing Soda, & Oxi-clean in a big bucket. In a pot, cover grated soap with water & stir until melted over medium heat. Add to the soap in the bucket and add 2 1/2 gallons HOT tap water & stir. Let sit 24 hours & stir again. I pour it into 2 old laundry jugs. I have 3 and when I get to my 3rd jug, I make another batch and fill the empty 2. I use 1 cup per load and shake the jug before each use. I love that our clothes come out smelling CLEAN & without fragrance (a migraine trigger for me). You can add the essential oil if you like the added smell :) It is the best stuff!
Hi! Do you use this in a HE washer? We just got a new washer and I am a little nervous to use it in that. Do you know if you use this recipe in this recipe in the HE washing machines?
I have a question regarding making your own laundry soap. Is laundry soda the same as a laundry powder or does it say “laundry soda” on it. Might be silly but I’ve never heard of laundry soda. Thanks for the help!
It is Arm and Hammer Washing soda it looks like a big box of baking soda but it is totally diffrent. I find it in the laundry isle at the store.
we keep ours in powder form because my laundry space is super small. I love the smell of Zote soap and can find it for $1 at Piggly Wiggly and I grate it. The washing soda I find at Publix. We first switched to making our own laundry detergent for our cloth diapers.
Is this the same one you posted previously about the Duggars?
We started making our own soap several years ago, and I began making laundry soap with the scraps:
1/2 cup soap shavings
1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1 cup 20 Muleteam Borax
Use 1 Tbsp per load.
Although I have made it with just one scent or unscented, I enjoy making it with multiple scents combined, potpourri style. My daughter-in-law discovered that cutting unscented and undyed soap into strips to use as a stain stick worked really well on stains on my granddaughter’s clothing.
I don’t buy bar soap anymore, and don’t need to use lotion much either.
Hi Shelly. Can you use this in an HE washer? We just got a new one and I’d love to save $ but I am nervous using it in the HE ones. Any thoughts? Thanks!
I make all of my own cleaning products. Its not only cheaper. But they work better and I like knowing whats going in to them.
What types of cleaning products? Can you share you recipes??
We started making our own soap several years ago, and I started making laundry soap out of the scraps. I use 1/2 cup soap shavings with 1 cup each of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda and 20 Muleteam Borax and only use 1 Tbsp per load. I have made it using only one scent of soap, or even unscented, but really enjoy using a mixture of soaps. Our daughter-in-law also discovered that cutting unscented and undyed soap into strips made good stain sticks to remove lots of stains from my granddaughter’s clothes.
The laundry soap I make is in powder form and it works great. I just add it to the water before I add the clothes and let it dissolve enough so I don’t see the soap flakes. You have to grate the soap, but to be honest I do that while I am watching TV. It works great for my daughter too, who had a reaction to the scented soap we were using and so much cheaper than the dye and perfume free detergents out there.
3 cups grated Ivory or Fels Napth soap
1 cup washing soda
1 cup Borax
1 cup of the off brand of Oxy clean that you can get at the Dollar Store
Mix it all together and use 1 tbsp for a normal load, 2tbsp for a large or really soiled load.
Hi Beth. Is your recipe safe to use in the HE washers? Thanks!
I believe that the person I got it from said it was, because it doesn’t suds up like traditional detergents do. She makes it and sells it on Etsy. I can’t garantee it though!
I’ve been making my own detergent for about 8 months now and I LOVE it. I use a powder recipe, just because it’s easier and less messy.
1 cup Borax
1 cup washing soda
1 bar of Ivory
-Use 1 tablespoon per load
If I’m washing my husband’s work clothes, I’ll also throw in a scoop of OxiClean. With my first batch of laundry detergent, I tried using Fels Naptha but I didn’t care for the smell and it was hard to grate. I switched to Ivory (which is also cheaper) and I love it.
Our clothes are clean & I haven’t had any issues with color fading or smell. With this detergent, my clothes don’t smell like chemicals… they just smell clean. I will never go back to regular detergent.
I also use vinegar in the rinse cycle. I bought a Downy ball and just fill the vinegar to the fill line & toss it in the washer.
I use the same recipe and it works just great! I have no issues at all. If I have tough stains I just use a stain treater. and it takes out the stains just as well as an expensive laundry detergent would. Plus it doesn’t have dyes or fragrance which works well for my daughter who is allergic to everything!
I was given the recipe for the liquid detergent by a friend and am excited to try it, but your idea for the powder form sounds a lot easier! Do you just grate up the Ivory soap and mix all the dry ingredients together? Do you let the bar of soap set out to get harder, or do you just use it out of the package? (Or does it even matter?) Good idea on the vinegar, too!
Laurie
Yes, I just use a cheese grater to grate the Ivory soap. I’ve never set it out to “harden” but if you go with another brand of soap (such as Fels Naptha), you may want to let it sit out to make it easier to grate. You can also grate it in the food processor.
I put a tablespoon of the powder detergent in the washing machine and then start the water to let it dissolve before I add our clothes. I wash everything on cold water & I’ve never had an issue with residue or buildup.
I hope you like the detergent as much as I do!
I have made this before and it works great. I have learned to add a small bottle of regular liquid detergent which helps with the consistency. It increases your cost a little but you are still saving LOTS of $$$$