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Great Oak Circle

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Homemade Laundry Detergent

by · 340 Comments

I think my sister and I are channeling Laura Ingalls these days.

We totally made our own clothes soap.

It was really cheap.  Under $7 and this will last forever!

You can totally do this too, it’s super easy.

To make about 4 mason jars full you will need:

6 cups Borax

4 cups baking soda

4 cups washing soda

4 cups Fels-Naptha bar soap (almost 2 bars)

~

UPDATE: This is totally your decision, but some new studies are showing that Borax powder fumes may cause reproductive harm in men.  You may try adding more baking and washing soda instead of the Borax and see how you like the results.  Another commenter made her’s into a liquid, which would cut out the fumes of the Borax:

“I have made as a liquid. I grate one bar of soap, melt in a pot of water (even let it boil for just a second, but not bubble over!) Add 1c borax, 1c washing soda, mix, make sure it’s all incorporated, and put in three different gallon containers. Add water to top and shake hard. Use around 1c per load”-Melissa

Grate the bar soap, I have read that you can use Dove or some other soap if you can’t find this particular one.

But I will say…

I live in the city.

The C.I.T.Y.

No chickens. No cows.

And my Publix sold all this stuff.

Now put it all in a bowl and mix it really well.

Also, you should know, this is very powdery and was starting to go everywhere.

Up our nose, in our mouth.

Just sayin.  Try to mix carefully.

Now put it in jars or an air-tight container.

Done.

You will need 2 tablespoons per load.

OK, here’s the deal on the HE washing machines.

HE washing machines need special soap that is low-sudsing.

And this is, so you really should be fine.

It’s totally safe in mine and my sisters.

Also the Duggars have a recipe that’s similar and they use it in HE. So there ya go.

You can make a sweet tag if you want to give as a gift.

I used cotton butcher twine to attach a clothes pin.

Then added a homemade tag that you can download here.

(Thanks Graphics Fairy for the label border)

I thought later that I should have included instructions on how much to use.

I think it would be cute to write it on the clothes pin.

Or you could attach another tag.

Happy Little House on the Prairie!

And happy saving a lot of money.

:)

I am linking to Saturday Night Special!

The Girl Creative

The Graphics Fairy

The DIY Show Off

Making the world cuter

Someday Crafts

PS…want about 50 tips and tricks for this recipe?

The comments are worth a read:)

oh and also…

I really really want to respond to every single amazing comment. But truth is…it’s getting really hard!

So know that I love you and I love that you are here and visited my blog and took time out of your day to comment:)
Christine

Comments

  1. Today, I went to the beach front with my kids.
    I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She placed the shell to her
    ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it
    pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is totally
    off topic but I had to tell someone!

    Reply

  3. i make this and love it, my grandkids have sensitive skin and regular detergent breaks them out. My husband, on the other hand, needs more scent killing power. I add more baking soda, some lemon zest and a few drops of essential oil for a stronger scent.

    Reply

  6. You can eliminate the grating of the bar of soap completely by microwaving it. Put it into a LARGE bowl and microwave (I don’t remember how long, just watch it). It will puff up A LOT. You might have to take it out and take out the puffed up part, put the remainder back in, several times, and continue microwaving until it is all puffed up. Once it cools it just disintegrates into a powder. Much easier than grating.

    Reply

  7. I wonder, my washing machine water drains into my yard (gray water). It goes into my ditch where I have collected a lot of minnows. I also have some flowers there. I wonder what the effect of borax and washing soda has on this. I know it can’t be as bad as tide or arm and hammer. Thoughts?

    Reply

  8. Good morning, I found a snippit of your post on Tip Junkie this morning, came right to the source. I love mason jars but even more what you have created;;-) I would love to have you stop by my weekend party to share. I have pinned to my huge Mason Jar board.

    On another note, I have made detergent only I did not add water kept it in dry form, I set my washer on small load, I add the dry mix and when washer is filled, I agitate, then change setting to full load, add clothes and wash!! Works great!!

    Now I am going to look around a bit more!!

    Hope that you will stop by………Have a great weekend!
    Karren xoo

    Reply

    • I found washing soda in the laundry detergent isle. Arm & Hammer make a super washing soda that I use in my dishwashing detergent and laundry detergent.

      Reply

    • Arm & Hammer washing soda is in the laundry isle your grocery. I don’t use Borax, I use All free and clear laundry booster instead.

      Reply

      • Jodi,

        Do you have sensitive skin? I wanted to know if the all free and clear instead of borax keeps the skin from getting irritated.

        Thanks!

        Reply

    • You can make your own. Pour A box of soda in a baking dish set the oven to 400 and bake for 1hour. This turns baking
      Soda ( sodium bicarbonate)into soda wash (sodium carbonate)

      Reply

  10. Hi, how many mason jars did this recipe fill? I’m looking to mass-produce this project for my church’s craft day. Thanks :)

    Reply

  11. I have used other soaps for this. My homemade, and Ivory. I grate the soap and then let it dry out for a day or two before mixing with the other ingredients. You can also add the laundry softener beads to your soap if desired. Or use white vinegar instead of fabric softener.

    Washing soda is baking soda that has been heated. Don’t know about borax though.

    I use my laundry soap all the time. I do have some liquid, but rarely use it. It’s here for an emergency, in case I run out of my powdered soap.

    Reply

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