Homemade Laundry Soap

I have been using the liquid, but I am switching to the powder because it would be easier for me to store. Here is how you make it.


You will need:

1 box of Borax - walmart is the cheapest last time I checked.

1 box of Washing soda (not baking soda). You can get it at Kroger. It is also the same thing as soda ash which is used as a nuetralizer for pools so you should be able to find it at walmart in the pool chemical section as sodium carbonate. This is cheaper than buying in the box at Kroger.

Bars of Zote or Fels Naptha Soap. These are laundry bar soaps. I've been told that any bar of soap will work though so if you can't find any of those, then plain ole ivory soap bars should be fine.

Grate up the soap buy hand (this takes a long time) or use a food processor if you have one. That's what I use and it works great.

The basic recipe is as follows:

2 cups grated soap
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda

I make huge batches of this in a 5 gallon bucket so I end up doing this many times to fill up the bucket.

Use 1 tablespoon per load unless it is a really nasty load and then you could add 2 tablespoons. This will last you forever and is every bit as good as tide, if not better in my opinion.



TIP: The above recipes will NOT make suds in your washer so don't be alarmed. Fels Naptha Soap is a pure soap and typically makes little or no suds in the water. This makes it perfect for use in the new HE washers as well as tradional washers. You will also notice the need to either reduce your laundry softener or in most cases you can even eliminate the use of softener completely.