Hey friends! One of my biggest cost saving things that I do on my homestead is make my own laundry detergent. I’ve been making it for years and started after I realized how expensive laundry detergent is. But it doesn’t have to be. I used a couple of different recipes in the beginning until I found the one below. This is the one I use and the one I teach in my classes.
It’s so easy to make your own laundry soap. I do it in stages. I pour one box of washing soda into the container then the box of borax (order doesn’t matter). I mix these two together with a wooden spoon. Then I add two bars of shredded soap. I mix the mixture up really well. Then I repeat the process. I also use my scoop to mix the ingredients together before I add to the washer. Also, one thing of note-add your mixture to the washer before adding your clothes. I sometimes get some powder left over on the clothes if I forget to add before adding the clothes.
What you need
I purchased this 2 gallon glass container and it works perfectly for my needs. I use two boxes of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, two boxes of Borax, and four bars of soap. This fills the container up. I should get about 6 months from this batch. I will also say that when I make my own soap, I will use that in my laundry detergent. I don’t know that it cuts down on the cost at all, but it feels like I am saving money! Of course, you can use any container that you have at home and that will save you about $14 of start up costs.
The breakdown
The cost breakdown is as follows:
2-Gallon glass container: $13.97
One box of washing soda: $4.76×2=$9.52
One box of borax: $5.97×2=$11.94
4 pack soap: $4.97
Total start up cost: $40.40 (plus tax)
Total monthly cost for 6 months: $6.73
that’s $80 per year for your laundry detergent. I don’t know how that compares to commercially produced detergents but I know one of the big containers of laundry detergent can cost around $20. And then you have a plastic container that you have to recycle. Most of the items that you purchase when you make your own laundry soap can be recycled as well.
How to use
I use one scoop (or 2 tablespoons) per load. And that is plenty! Did you know that you don’t even need that much of commercially produced laundry detergent? The instructions tell you to add a cap full of whatever detergent you are using. You don’t need that much! It’s a lot and I have found that it doesn’t rinse out very well. And the dyes and perfumes! Do not get me started on that crap. Anyway. I put a label on the jar such as the one above and call it done!
Let me know if you make your own laundry soap and what recipe you use. This one really works for me and my purposes but I always love hearing what you are doing.
’til next time
-k
xoxo
Jennifer
This is great! My husband is a mechanic and his clothes are full of oil and grease. I was using a liquid detergent that didn’t seem to work as well as Tide. So recently I went back to that. How do you think this would work on his clothes? I like the perfume in my detergent…lol….I know I shouldn’t.
chickenlibrarian
I use this for everything! If it doesn’t work and you need a little extra boost, you can always use some oxi-clean with this recipe. Some people put oxi-clean in their laundry soap anyway. You really shouldn’t like the perfumes and dyes in the laundry detergents, but that’s okay too! LOL! Thanks for stopping by!
Leslie Clingan
Would like to try this. I do like fragrance in my soap. If I wanted to add a fragrance, how would I do that? An essential oil maybe? But would that add oil to my clothes? Hate paying for the ‘water’ that comes in a lot of liquid detergent. Have been using pods lately but they are even more expensive. And, like you said, we probably don’t need as much soap as provided in those pods. Wonder if I could cut them in half?