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DIY Laundry Soap / Detergent
I’ve been on the quest for a safe laundry soap that I can make at home. I stopped using commercial brand detergents years ago and have been using safer, non-toxic brands that I find at the local health food store. I’ve gone through the process of trying different brands out to see which ones I liked the best and only a couple made the cut. Plus, nothing ever kept my clothes white and sharp looking. The thing is, just as with any other product that is considered safe, non-toxic and all natural – the cost can be on the high side. I do quite a bit of laundry, so this can add up.
Recently on Pinterest I found some recipes I wanted to try and I’ve completed my first experiment. I’ve been using it for over a month now and I’m pretty impressed with the results. I’ve also used it as a stain remover and it’s amazing for this job. I used the ingredients in the recipe, but may try a different soap (our use soap flakes) next time around. I’ve read some information on the type of soap I used (Fels-Naptha) and it raises some concerns for me. I need to do a little more research on this brand of soap before I decide if I’ll use it again.
It made 5 quarts of concentrated solid detergent and in one month, will all the laundry I do, I’ve only used a quart. Even at that, I always used a little more per load than what the instructions called for. The cost is a fraction of what I was paying for liquid detergent at Vitamin Cottage or Whole Foods and it definitely will last longer. You can find the original instructions here or you can use the instructions below (with our without photos). Her recipes states that it makes 4 quarts and at 1 tablespoon per load, it will last for 256 loads of laundry.
Concentrated Laundry Detergent
- 2 bars Fels Naptha bar soap, grated
- 2 cups 20 Mule Team Borax
- 2 cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (not baking soda)
- 6 cups water (and more water as needed as the process goes on)
- 4-5 quart size glass mason jars
- stock pot
- electric hand mixer
Put 6 cups of water in a stock pot and heat. You won’t want this water to boil once the grated soap is in it, but you want it hot enough to melt the soap.
Once the water is feeling hot, add the 2 bars of grated soap and stir frequently. This can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes, depending on how thick your flakes are. You’ll want to stir and heat until all the soap is completely melted. Again, don’t let it boil – this will create a sudsy mess.
Once all the soap is completely melted, turn off the heat and add the Borax and Washing Soda and stir until it’s completely dissolved.
Pour this mixture into the quart jars, leaving a couple inches of space. Once all the jars are filled, pour hot water in each jar up to the shoulder of the jar (just under the rim).
Place lids on all the jars and allow them to just sit for 8 hours or overnight.
You will see the soap start to separate and this is normal. The blending process will eliminate all of this.
After they have set long enough, you’ll need to get a large bowl, or the stock pot used to melt everything (I used the stock pot). You will then uncap the jars and place the contents in the stock pot or bowl. You may need to cup up the soap while it’s in the jar so it comes out easier. Using a little bit of hot water, I’d get the remaining soap out of the jars and pour into the stock pot or bowl. Starting on a low speed of the hand mixer, begin blending the soap until you reach the consistency of a blended room temperature butter. The length of this process will vary depending on how easily the clumps of detergent blend smoothly.
Once you are done mixing and blending, you pour the soap back into the mason jars, replace the lids and you now have concentrated laundry detergent.
I keep a tablespoon with the detergent and just scoop out a tablespoon for each load. If I have clothes with fresh stains on them, I rub some of this concentrate on the stain, allow it to sit for a couple hours and then wash. This stuff is amazing at getting out stains.
Considering the labor isn’t too much, I think I’ll stick with this one. I also found a recipe similar to this, but it uses a fraction of the soap, Borax and Washing soda along with the 6 cups, so it’s more of a liquid detergent and not concentrated (it takes 1/2 cup per load).
Here’s to clean and safe laundry time!
Concentrated Laundry Detergent (without photos)
- 2 bars Fels Naptha bar soap, grated
- 2 cups 20 Mule Team Borax
- 2 cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (not baking soda)
- 6 cups water (and more water as needed as the process goes on)
- 4-5 quart size glass mason jars
- stock pot
- electric hand mixer or immersion blender
Put 6 cups of water in a stock pot and heat. You won’t want this water to boil once the grated soap is in it, but you want it hot enough to melt the soap.
Once the water is feeling hot, add the 2 bars of grated soap and stir frequently. This can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes, depending on how thick your flakes are. You’ll want to stir and heat until all the soap is completely melted. Again, don’t let it boil – this will create a sudsy mess.
Once all the soap is completely melted, turn off the heat and add the Borax and Washing Soda and stir until it’s completely dissolved.
Pour this mixture into the quart jars, leaving a couple inches of space. Once all the jars are filled, pour hot water in each jar up to the shoulder of the jar (just under the rim).
Place lids on all the jars and allow them to just sit for 8 hours or overnight.
You will see the soap start to separate and this is normal. The blending process will eliminate all of this.
After they have set long enough, you’ll need to get a large bowl, or the stock pot used to melt everything (I used the stock pot). You will then uncap the jars and place the contents in the stock pot or bowl. You may need to cup up the soap while it’s in the jar so it comes out easier. Using a little bit of hot water, I’d get the remaining soap out of the jars and pour into the stock pot or bowl. Starting on a low speed of the hand mixer, begin blending the soap until you reach the consistency of a blended room temperature butter. The length of this process will vary depending on how easily the clumps of detergent blend smoothly.
Once you are done mixing and blending, you pour the soap back into the mason jars, replace the lids and you now have concentrated laundry detergent.
I keep a tablespoon with the detergent and just scoop out a tablespoon for each load. If I have clothes with fresh stains on them, I rub some of this concentrate on the stain, allow it to sit for a couple hours and then wash. This stuff is amazing at getting out stains.
Do you make your own laundry detergent? Did you like the results?
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