Homemade Laundry Detergent

In honor of my NEW "old school" washing machine (more on that later), I just made another batch of laundry soap and am reposting my laundry detergent recipe for any of those interested, along with some updates from lessons learned!


Yesterday was our day to make laundry detergent, and I was lucky enough to have a helper on hand!  I started doing this November 2008 and haven't used store bought since!  It's quick (15 minutes!) easy, fun, and makes a ton each batch, so I only need to do it every 2-3 months or so.  There are many recipes available on the internet, but I will walk you through ours:

INGREDIENTS:  (update:  more stores stock these ingredients than when I first started, looks like people are starting to ask for it!)

-1/3 bar grated soap (I use Zote or Octagon, Zote is easier to grate) -can usually be found in  an ethnic grocery if you can't find it at your regular store

-1/2 cup washing soda (different than baking soda!)  got mine at WalMart

-1/2 cup Borax powder (available at most stores)

-Essential Oil optional (I use grapefruit!)

- 2 or 3 gallon bucket

- Pot for heating soap

- Funnel

- Empty Containers (I use recycled store bought laundry containers, empty H2O or clean milk   jugs work too...amount depends on how big your containers are!

Step One:

Set out your ingredients:  note the "Princess Bucket" my child picked out for me, it has "sparkles"!
Step Two:

Grab a helpful child, or maybe not so helpful...

Step Three:

Put your grated soap plus 6 cups hot water (I grate by hand since I mangled my food processor doing this last time:) in a pot and heat just until the soap melts (do not boil!).  Add the washing soda and Borax and stir until dissolved.  Remove from heat.

Step Four:  

Pour 4 cups hot tap water into your bucket.  Add melted soap mixture and stir.  This is a good time to add a couple drops of essential oil if you prefer a scented soap.

Next, add 1 Gallon plus 6 cups water and stir some more...this is a great chore for the "helpful child"!

Step Five:

Let the soap sit about 24 hours in the bucket and it should come to a thin egg white consistency.  (The reason for 24 hour wait is if it gels too much you can add more H20 and blend to right consistency - BEFORE it gels "too much" in your containers and won't come out!) If the remaining soap flakes visible bother you, just run an immersion blender through it before funneling into your containers.  Voila!  You have a ton of laundry detergent for just a cent or so per load!  Use about 1/2 cup per load ( I just use the cap from the bottle).  This is safe and actually beneficial for H.E. machines since it is low-sudsing.

**Tip:  If the next day your soap is gelled solid, just add some more H2O and use an immersion blender to thin.  I only offer this suggestion because I made this mistake the first time...I think I heated the soap too much on the stove, evaporating too much water!!!

Recipe makes about 2.5 gallons!  I just use recycled store bought containers, but milk or water jugs work just as well!  When done, I just store all my laundry making ingredients away in the bucket and it's easily accessible next time.

FABRIC SOFTENER:

I mix a few drops essential oil into a bottle of vinegar and add 1/2 cup to the rinse tray...soft clothes and cleans your machine at the same time!  Really great for those H.E. machine nasty seals!  Don't worry, your clothes will not come out smelling like vinegar, especially with essential oil added.  Happy Laundering...ok, well maybe "Cheaper Laundering" at least...!

**Note:  if you dry your clothes on the clothesline, you will find that the vinegar rinse does not do the same trick, I haven't yet found a homemade softener that works on line-dried clothes - if you know of one, please share!