homemade laundry soap

[Bama]

I remember reading a post about one of you ladies making homemade laundry soap (powdered version), but now I can't find it. I just made a batch of liquid laundry soap and thought I would share my recipe while I'm thinking about it.

I mix and store it in a 3 gallon bucket (cat food bucket).

You will need:
1 large bar of soap ( I use Fels Naptha, but I've also tried Ivory and Dr. Bronner's Castille soap.)
20 Mule Team Borax
Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (baking soda is not the same)

Grate soap (I always leave a small chunk to use for pre-treating stains, just wet it and rub across stain). Place soap shavings in a sauce pan and cover with water. Heat and stir until soap melts. Into bucket, measure 3 cups of borax, and 3 cups of washing soda. Pour melted soap and hot water over and stir. Fill bucket nearly to top with cool water and stir til powders dissolve. You can add a few drops of tea tree oil or other essential oil if you like. Can be used immediately, but will thicken after a few hours to the consistency of chunky jello floating in liquid.
I use 1/4 to 1/2 cup per load. Works great on DH's socks and work clothes. The Fels Naptha soap supposedly removes oils from poison ivy and oak, so that's a HUGE plus for me. Gets doggie smells out of their blankets too.
I usually pour some of it into an old plastic laundry detergent bottle for easier measuring. It DOES NOT make suds like regular laundry detergent, but don't let that fool you. The suds are not what gets your laundry clean.

This recipe sounds much more time consuming than it is. It takes me about 10 minutes to make a batch.

[sewingmom]

Lori, I was told to put my fels naptha soap in the blender to grate it. Works great. You can use the same recipe and leave out the water and use it as a powdered soap. Just stir it up a bit everyonce in a while. I invert my soap container every day or two. Use 1 - 3 tablespoons of this in the laundry. I have another slightly more expensive recipe because you also add oxyclean and baking soda along with the other ingredients. It works great also. (as good as the higher priced storbought detergents) To be honest though. I remember days when my white wash came out whiter but I think the phosphates have been so deminished in clothes detergents that the days days of really white washclothes and towells are gone.

[kjh9835]

Just curious what it costs you to make this 3 gallon batch?
Assuming you use the max. 1/2c. for each load, in the 3 gallon container, you get 96 loads so what is your cost per load?

I prefer liquid over powdered as it takes a long time for hot water to reach my washer and I only wash whites in hot, everything else I use cold unless dh work clothes are really dirty, then I use warm. I use "generic" liquid and have since the kids got older and I don't have to worry about stains as much. If they get a stain now, I pre-treat with SprayNWash or Shout, etc. whatever happens to be cheapest when I run out. I also use Oxyclean powder in my whites about once a month and let them soak all day long, sometimes overnight. During the day, I turn on the washer intermittently to agitate them for a few minutes then turn it off again.

Not incl. the pretreat stuff or Oxyclean, my cost per load is 13 cents for the generic, usual price but sometimes I get the "bonus" bottle and get a few more loads per bottle.

Kathy

[Bama]

I'm not sure Kathy, I would have to figure it up. I did it once when I first started making it, but now I don't remember what the cost per load was. I know it's much cheaper than even the generic or Arm and Hammer detergent. The Borax and washing soda are both under $4 each for a box and I can make several batches from it. The Fels Naptha soap is 99 cents a bar.
Try googling recipes for homemade laundry soap recipes and you can find some break downs of cost per load for those particular recipes. I adjusted recipes until I found one that worked for me. Some of the recipes I saw said they cost .03 to .05 a load, but again, I'm not sure of the exact cost of this recipe.

There are also no phosphates in homemade laundry soap, to drain out into the environment. It's also less irritating to my skin than the heavily fragrance kinds.

[temom]

Here is my post about my dry mix. I mostly wash in cold water, and as long as the soap is finely grated there is no problem. I did find out the glycerine soap doesn't grate, it just globs. So I bought a huge bar of Zoats at Home Depot for a really low price.

The basic recipe:

1 part shredded soap -
1 part washing soda - NOT baking soda. But Arm & Hammer does make washing soda. You should be able to find it cheap in the laundry aisle, or you can pay an arm & a leg for it on amazon.
1 part borax - such as borateam.

Mix it all together, and use 2 tablespoons per load.

Since I have really hard water, I use 1 1/2 parts of borax, and my whites are actually white now, instead of gray!
Also, as before I switched to homemade laundry soap, whenever I wash permanent press, I use a scoop of oxyclean.

For the shredded soap, the smaller you shred it the easier it is for it to dissolve. And since I mostly wash in cold water, smaller is a must. Use whatever kind of soap you like best. You can use pretty much anything, or even the bar washing soaps that are supposed to be so good at getting out stains. I've used Zoats (unfortunately, it has a scent) and unscented castile bar soap. Next up in the line up will be the glycerine soap dd and I make & use (melt & pour).

[lendube]

I'm becoming more and more interested here. I'm sick of paying $25.00 for a box of detergent! I have 3 or 4 bars of Fels Naptha just sitting around. My mom said she grew up using washing soda for laundry. I do believe I'll give it a go. I also have VERY hard water here but I don't like softened water. I imagine there are recipes for fabric softener on the 'net as well.

[Bama]

I imagine there are recipes for fabric softener on the 'net as well.

Yep. I've never made it, but ones I've seen include white vinegar and baking soda.

[Pudge99]

I used white vinegar for fabric softener on my cloth diapers way back when. It worked pretty good.

[sewhappyrtr]

I have always been interested in making my own washing clothes soap, but have never done it.. now I believe I will give it a try!! Thanks for the push!! I use regular baking soda in my wash periodically, I think it gets things cleaner. I also use vinegar in my wash quite frequently, in place of fabric softener, although I do buy the refillable cartons of softener and add water to it periodically. Our friends who works on appliances for Sears said all that black type residue you get in your washer is from softener, and never to use it, , but I do use it, just water it down a bit.

[sewingmom]

http://www.creators.com/advice/everyday ... rgent.html
This lady is one of my favorite financial gurus and here is her soap recipe and the cost per load is 3 cents .