DIY Laundry Soap

In my quest to save money, I recently tried making my own laundry soap. There are many different "recipes" out there for powders and liquids, but many require that a large batch is made and stored. Storing a large bucket of detergent is less-than-appealing to me, even though we go through some serious detergent in our house (the poor washer is always running!). I have read lots of divided opinions on the liquid detergents, too, so I thought I'd start with the basic powder.

Anyway, I stumbled upon this simple recipe and tried it:

1/2 a bar of Fels Naptha soap, grated
1 C washing soda
1 C Borax

All of these "ingredients" can be picked up at your local hardware store but they are also available at many grocery and discount stores. These items are all pretty old-school. I also picked up a cheap cheese grater from the dollar store and grated half the bar of Fels Naptha. To be fair, this took a little time and elbow grease. I grated it into a clean cottage cheese container and added the washing soda and Borax. Then I stirred it up. Easy-peasy! I keep a tablespoon in it and use one tablespoon for each regular load of laundry; I use an extra half tablespoon for really big loads. For kid clothes, I also add a quarter scoop of Oxyclean as my kid's clothes seem to always be covered in food and grime.

So far, I've been pretty pleased. It seems to do really well on Rick's greasy work clothes and most stains come out of A's toddler attire. I haven't been brave enough to try it on diapers and probably won't (I have something that works well for them and that's worth every penny to me). Still, this little concoction has worked better than I ever expected. I think it even works better than our old standby, All Free & Clear.

All of the ingredients are cheap and have various other household uses, so you really have nothing to lose by trying to make the detergent. Fels Naptha bars cost around $4. They work well for removing stains (just rub the bar on the stain - much cheaper than Shout :-) ). Borax costs around $4-5 for a small box. It works well as a laundry booster as it softens water and boosts your other detergents' cleaning power. It also works as a natural insecticide. Please note that it is toxic if directly ingested by humans or pets, though. It works well in crawlspaces, sprinkled around your foundation or anywhere inside your home where kids or pets won't eat it. I recently mixed a little in with sugar water to combat an ant problem we were having. Voila - no more ants! I have long been a fan of Borax, if you couldn't tell. Finally, washing soda costs around $5 for a small box. It is the base for many laundry detergents but can also be used around the house for general cleaning. It works well for degreasing your range or oven or it's pieces. If you want to be extra frugal, you can make your own washing soda from baking soda per the Penniless Parenting blog's instructions here. I haven't ever made my own washing soda beacusse it isn't that much of a staple in my house but baking soda is cheap, so this is handy knowledge if you love the stuff. Many people also make their own dishwasher detergent and use washing soda as a base but I have not tried this,

Based on my use, the homemade detergent costs approximately $0.08 per load. Each batch of the recipe above washes around 45 regular loads of clothes. I have always bought All Free & Clear? It is not an expensive detergent but the cheapest I can usually find it is for $11.99 for the 110-load bottle and that is on sale. Occasionally, I am also able to find coupons for $1.00 off but I can't always find them. At $11, the 110-load bottle costs $0.10 per load. Two cents per load isn't much but it's all savings. Considering we wash about 5 loads of laundry a week (excluding diapers), that adds up to more than 250 loads a year. That much laundry means $5 a year. And really, it's even more when you consider that you can't always find coupons or buy detergent on sale. Each little bit counts. Give this a try today - you have nothing to lose!