Homemade Laundry Detergent

If you're like me, you're always trying to do what's best for your family. Sometimes it can be a struggle when you're on a tight budget. Recently I was at our local "Superstore" to buy laundry detergent. As I stopped to pick up a bottle of my favorite detergent I noticed that the price had gone up AGAIN! But, I had to have it so I just shook my head and put the bottle in the cart and then made my way down the aisle to where the fabric softner was located. Again, I picked up a bottle of my favorite fabric softner and the price had gone up on it as well.

Now, two years ago Ryan and I decided that we wanted to save a little money on our water and electric bill so we bought a high efficiency (HE) washer and dryer. Best move that we made. I LOVE my machines and we have really noticed a difference in our water and electric bills. Ok, with that said, I've been paying out the wazzou for laundry detergent because my machines only use HE or low sudsing detergent. Do you know how expensive these detergents are? We go through alot of laundry around here, so I was running to the store almost every week and a half to buy detergent and fabric softner at close to $10 -$15 for detergent and $5 -$7 for softner. Thats ALOT of money when you're on a budget!!!!!

So, about a month ago I was watching one of my favorite TV shows on TLC about a family that has 18 kids. Yeah, you know the one :) Anyway, I decided to check out their website. While I was looking at their site I noticed that they make their own laundry deterget! And they use HE machines!!!!! I was like, WHAT? BACK THAT TRUCK UP!!!! So then I decided to do a little research on my own about making your own laundry detergent. Now, Ryan at this point is shaking his head and was most likely thinking "Whatever".

I found out that it really is so simple to make your own detergent and it's very inexpensive. WAY CHEAPER!!!!!

So to make a long story short.....I made my first batch and I was pretty surprised to find that not only did it clean better than the high dollar brands but it also softened our clothes (I no longer use fabric softener) and made everything even smell fresher than the brand I had been using.

It has been requested by all members of my household that I only use this detergent from now on. We’ve been using it for about a month now and I’m totally won over. Of course, they love it for the smell and feel of our clothes, I love it for how great it works and the fact that it only costs me about eight cents per load of laundry now!

This is only my second batch that I’ve made up. It seemed to last forever so this last time I actually measured out how many loads were in each batch so I could give you an accurate figure. No wonder it lasted forever, I had made enough for 160 loads!

Before I forget, when I do feel the need to use fabric softner I've started using (are you ready for this?) plain ol' white vinegar. Yep! Not only does it soften my clothes (and no, you can't smell the vinegar in the clothes) but it keeps my machines smelling good and keeps the hoses clean and fresh!

Today I’m bringing you the recipe I use. This one is the hands down winner at my house!


You’ll need:

■Laundry Soap (Fels Naptha or Zote are the ones I have used. You can also use: Sunlight Bar Soap, Kirk’s Hardwater Castile, or even Ivory)
■Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
■Borax

Note: You’re not likely to find all of these things in one store. I usually have to make trips to at least two different stores to get them. One store will have the Borax but put it beside a huge box of Baking Soda instead of washing soda and then another will have the soap. Just have fun shopping around for what you like but be sure you remember where you got everything! I am going to show you a recipe for detergent to make about eighty loads worth but I recommend you get four bars of soap and go ahead and make 160 loads worth because there is enough Borax and Washing Soda in one box to do that much. This will give you the absolute best savings!

The only real work involved is grating your soap. I use a cheese grater for this. I really want to use my food processor but I’m worried about hard soap damaging or dulling my blades so cheese grater it is! I get about three cups of soap shavings from each bar. Measurements will vary according to the size of your bar soap and how finely it is ground. We’re grating this kind of fine so it melts easier in the water. If you like, you can run the shavings through the food processor when you are done to make it finer but this works just fine for me.

Measure out your soap grounds in a large mixing bowl. This is where the recipe gets easy. However many cups of soap shavings you have, half that to know the number of cups of Washing Soda and Borax to put in. So for six cups of soap shavings, use three cups of borax and three cups of washing soda! Measure out the washing soda and borax then stir all of that up! You’ll have to stir a bit each time you scoop some out to get a good ratio of soap shavings to powder but that’s no big deal.


I store mine in a glass container with a lid and leave a 1/8th of a cup measuring cup in there to measure it out. Can you believe this only takes two tablespoons per load? Seriously! I put this to the test, too. I’ve figure out that two tablespoons is pretty close to 1/8th of a cup so that is the measurement I use now.

The main difference you will notice between this and store bought detergents is that this detergent doesn’t suds up as commercial ones do. Don’t let that deter you! Once you pull out your first load of clean, fresh smelling, naturally soft and fluffy laundry, that only cost YOU eight cents to clean, you’ll be hooked.

If you decide to try making your own detergent let me know how it works for ya. I know that you'll love it and love the savings! Happy washing :)

Homemade Laundry Detergent

■4 Bars Laundry Soap (to yield 12 cups of soap shavings)
■6 Cups Borax (this is roughly one box)

■6 Cups Washing powders (this is roughly one box)
Grate soap using cheese grater. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well. Place in sealed container and measure out two tablespoons for each load.