Homemade Laundry Soap Recipes

I just made a batch last night. Here's my recipe:

One bar of any soap (I use Dial's cranberry soap - wonderful smell)
One cup of Borax
One cup of Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer makes this)

Shred bar of soap. Dissolve in small amount of boiling water. Add 3 gals. of water. Add Borax and Washing Soda. Stir until dissolved. (I found it dissolves better if I keep some heat under it for about another 5-10 minutes.)
Let cool, stirring occasionally. It will thicken as it cools.

I use milk containers, but you can use old laundry soap containers.

FYI, the first time I made this, it was clumpy, but that had no effect on its ability to clean and it rinsed out thoroughly.

I found out the hard way that 3 gallons of finished laundry soap is ALOT. Unless you have several large kettles to make this in and containers to store it in, I recommend that you cut the recipe down.

Most suds come from additives. There are very few suds with this recipe as the only thing that bubbles is the bar soap.

Good Luck!

Hi L.! Fels Naptha is a toxic chemical and is very harsh for the skin. Use a bar of whatever soap you like that has gentle ingredients, in it's place.

I used to make my own soap but upon the recommendation of ladies on this site, tried Charlie's Soap. It's the best laundry soap I have ever tried (miles better than Melaleuca, Seventh Generation, etc.) and is extremely cheap to buy. I get mine from amazon.com.

Check out the book "Green Up Your Clean Up" for great recipes for household cleaners and soaps. I use essential oils every day in my cleaning. I love it!

The Duggar Family website has a great recipe

Good idea, but I would be very careful about what kind of soap/detergent I put into a high efficiency front loader and would recommend you check with the manufacturer first. I have a HE front loader and many of them are very particular about what kind of detergent can be used. You can cause oversudsing or even damage the machine by using an inappropriate kind. I would also be concerned about soapy build-up in the door gaskets, which can lead to mold problems.

Look in this collection of recipes and you will find a homemade laundry soap. It has 38 reviews on it, too.

http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook/Home-Remedies-93101

I would have only gave you the one link for just the recipe, but I figured you would be interested in the other natural recipes in the collection like veggie wash and "soft scrub"... all natural :)

Good luck!

The ingredients you will need are;
Fels Naptha bar soap ( it is for pre treating laundry stains)
Arm and Hammer Wash soda
Borax

you shave or grate the bar soap and add it to a pan of 3 cups water just under a boil. Stir the whole time or it will burn to the bottom, you need to disolve the soap and it will become a highly soapy water. Add this to a bucket with 3 gallons of HOT water, mix well. (i use a paint mixer on my drill) Add one cup wash soda, mix well. Add one cup borax, mix well. Cover and let sit over night. it will turn into a gel, mix it really well and you will have a fabulous soap that gets all the stains out. it will not smell like anything after the clothes come out of the wash, so you can add scented oils to the soap if you would like.
i love making this and involve my kids in making it, but most of all the cost of making is is .03 cents per gallon!!!!
enjoy.

I second Melissa A's recipe--although I add the borax and washing soda to the hot water and dissolve that while I'm melting the grated soap. I have made the soap with grated Ivory, but that aggravates my youngest child's skin, so we stick with the Fels Naptha. I also hang onto empty cranberry juice containers or milk jugs for storing it--collect from friends and neighbors so you have enough to hold it. I use around 1 cup for a full load, it has minimal suds, but it works wonderfully and our clothes have an absence of smell (nothing harsh, nothing gross, just perfect!). If you add essential oils it would probably smell wonderful, but my family has sensitive skin.

I also use baking soda and vinegar for a lot of cleaning around the house. White vinegar is a great disinfectant and baking soda makes a great scrub without scratching surfaces, so it is also nice on my cheap, porous counters (we rent and they suck up stains). I use a combination of baking soda and vinegar to clean drains once in a while, too (especially in the kitchen).

I hope you love the detergent!

Be careful and fully read your warranty to verify if this could void your warranty or not. Good luck, and thanks for asking the question. I am very interested in this topic of green cleaners.

I recommend looking into soapnuts. All natural and none of the work of making your own. I have been using them for 6 months on everything, including cloth diapers, and they work great!

you can also steep herbs, etc., in hot or boiling water , scoop out herbs, then proceed with the recipe.