Homemade Laundry Soap

Here are a couple of recipes to try when wanting to make your own laundry detergent/soap:
Liquid Laundry Detergent

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

You could add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, citrus, eucalyptus, tea tree, peppermint, etc…

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*You NEED to use Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" -. Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

Powdered Laundry Detergent - Top load machine

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

-Grate soap or break into pieces and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients. For light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons. Yields: 3 Cups detergent. (Approx. 40 loads)

*You NEED to use Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" -. Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

Can’t Find Fels-Naptha? Most recipes call for Fels-Naptha bar soap, but you can use Ivory, Sunlight, Kirk's Hardwater Castile or Zote bars. Don't use heavily perfumed soaps.
Washing Soda and Borax can often be found on the laundry or cleaning aisle. Recipe cost approx. $2 per batch.

Sherri’s Notes (Moderator on the pinchingyourpennies site)

I have read several things online saying that the powdered laundry detergent is harsh on clothes, so if you decide to try that one you may want to add the detergent and allow the water to start filling (maybe hot) to dissolve the detergent before you add your clothes.

A few members of PYP have said that they don’t always feel that all of the odors come out of their clothes with the basic recipes. Some other suggestions have been to add a cup of Dawn dish soap to the recipes; you could add vinegar to your rinse cycle also. Another member suggested buying a bottle of stain fighter like “Shout” when it’s on sale and adding about a cup of that to the detergent when you are making it.

It might be a good idea to have the ingredients on hand in your non-food storage for an emergency situation.

Amazon has lots of other laundry soap options and also sells the ingredients needed to make laundry soap.

There is lots of information on Pinching Your Pennies. Log-in and search for “Homemade Laundry Soap”.