Laundry Soap was one of the first things that I learned how to make when deciding to live more simply and hopefully frugally. You can make a powder, but I prefer the liquid as our front load machine has a liquid soap dispenser.
There are only three ingredients needed when making laundry soap.
- Borax
- Washing Soda
- Pure Soap
If you are making a powder you just mix those ingredients together and you are done. If you are making the liquid you need one more ingredient. Water. That's it. Pretty simple and pretty cost effective. There is some upfront cost, as you have to buy the box of borax and washing soda and the bars of soap, but they will last you a long time. I finished making my third batch of detergent and I still have enough soap left to make one more batch and enough Borax and Washing Soda to make many more after that.
I found the idea for this detergent from the down to earth blog by Rhonda Hetzel. If you have not been to her blog yet you must go. She is my simple life guru. She keeps me motivated and always gives me something to think about. Her blog is my treat everyday.
So what do you need to do.
1. You will need to grate up your soap using the fine grater option. You will need to have 1 cup (About 1/2 the bar). I used sunlight laundry bar soap. It smells lemony while grating but the finished liquid does not have a lemony smell. You can also use ivory or any other kind of pure soap.
2. Measure out the rest of your ingredients. You will need 1/2 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup borax.
Now when i was researching how to make laundry soap, one of the most common questions I cam across was where do you buy washing soda? The answers that were given were not helpful to me. As when I went to the stores where they said it was I could not find it. But now I will let you in on the secret of where to find washing soda, at least in Canada, and I'm talking anywhere in Canada. (If you are outside of Canada, sorry can't help. But keep the faith, I'm sure you can find it too.) Home Hardware! Honestly is there anything that that store doesn't carry? I go to the Home Hardware in St. Jacobs and they had washing soda in their laundry aisle. Now not all Home Hardware's carry all the products available to Home Hardware Dealers. But they will order any product in for you. So if your local Home Hardware doesn't carry washing soda, ask them to order it in. They will be happy to oblige. They are all about customer service. So now you will always be able to have washing soda. No matter where you live. Home Hardware is in every small town and large city I can think of. You can also get Borax at Home Hardware too, but you can also easily get it at your local grocery store in the laundry aisle.
3. Put all ingredients into a largish pot and add 1L or so of water. Heat up mixture until all ingredients are dissolved. To get them all dissolved you will get your mixture to almost boiling. Don't let it get to a real boil as it will totally boil over. While this will help get your stove top nice and clean, the soap mixture will get everywhere, and I mean everywhere. This does not make for a fun clean up job. Trust me I know from experience.
4. Once everything is dissolved pour into a 10L bucket and fill it up with water. Give it a good stir and voila. Laundry Liquid. You can now divy it up into containers and get ready to do some laundry. I use some old pop bottles we have lying around. When filling your containers leave some head space as you will want to give it a shake before using the detergent. Some day I will put them in pretty glass containers, but for now this is what I have, and they work.
Some websites that I have seen say to let it sit in the bucket overnight. I have never done this but I will give it a try next time I need to make it, which won't be for a few months.
To use the liquid I add between 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup per load. The detergent does not sud up so it is safe to use in HE washers, though if you are warranty conscious you might want to see if that will void your warranty or not. I have used this laundry soap for over a year now and I find it gets my clothes clean, it is cheap, and it is like doing a fun chemistry experiment every time you make it. You will save money by making your own detergent.
This detergent does not have an smell. If having a detergent smell great is important to you you can add some essential oils. They don't serve a purpose except for smelling good.
So have fun making homemade laundry detergent. It is a little thing but it makes you feel pretty cool!
So what do you need to do.
1. You will need to grate up your soap using the fine grater option. You will need to have 1 cup (About 1/2 the bar). I used sunlight laundry bar soap. It smells lemony while grating but the finished liquid does not have a lemony smell. You can also use ivory or any other kind of pure soap.2. Measure out the rest of your ingredients. You will need 1/2 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup borax.
Now when i was researching how to make laundry soap, one of the most common questions I cam across was where do you buy washing soda? The answers that were given were not helpful to me. As when I went to the stores where they said it was I could not find it. But now I will let you in on the secret of where to find washing soda, at least in Canada, and I'm talking anywhere in Canada. (If you are outside of Canada, sorry can't help. But keep the faith, I'm sure you can find it too.) Home Hardware! Honestly is there anything that that store doesn't carry? I go to the Home Hardware in St. Jacobs and they had washing soda in their laundry aisle. Now not all Home Hardware's carry all the products available to Home Hardware Dealers. But they will order any product in for you. So if your local Home Hardware doesn't carry washing soda, ask them to order it in. They will be happy to oblige. They are all about customer service. So now you will always be able to have washing soda. No matter where you live. Home Hardware is in every small town and large city I can think of. You can also get Borax at Home Hardware too, but you can also easily get it at your local grocery store in the laundry aisle.3. Put all ingredients into a largish pot and add 1L or so of water. Heat up mixture until all ingredients are dissolved. To get them all dissolved you will get your mixture to almost boiling. Don't let it get to a real boil as it will totally boil over. While this will help get your stove top nice and clean, the soap mixture will get everywhere, and I mean everywhere. This does not make for a fun clean up job. Trust me I know from experience.
4. Once everything is dissolved pour into a 10L bucket and fill it up with water. Give it a good stir and voila. Laundry Liquid. You can now divy it up into containers and get ready to do some laundry. I use some old pop bottles we have lying around. When filling your containers leave some head space as you will want to give it a shake before using the detergent. Some day I will put them in pretty glass containers, but for now this is what I have, and they work.Some websites that I have seen say to let it sit in the bucket overnight. I have never done this but I will give it a try next time I need to make it, which won't be for a few months.
To use the liquid I add between 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup per load. The detergent does not sud up so it is safe to use in HE washers, though if you are warranty conscious you might want to see if that will void your warranty or not. I have used this laundry soap for over a year now and I find it gets my clothes clean, it is cheap, and it is like doing a fun chemistry experiment every time you make it. You will save money by making your own detergent.This detergent does not have an smell. If having a detergent smell great is important to you you can add some essential oils. They don't serve a purpose except for smelling good.
So have fun making homemade laundry detergent. It is a little thing but it makes you feel pretty cool!
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