Homemade Laundry Detergent

(Re-post from Jul/05)

Well, I’ve finally done it! I made my own laundry detergent. I saw some posts about making detergent on a homeschooling message board several weeks ago, but it took me a while to finally try it. What took me so long? I was intimidated by locating the ingredients, finding a storage container, and finding the time. Could the finished product possibly be as effective as the expensive, commercial stuff? When I finally committed to just doing it, I was pleasantly surprised by the results.

The Ingredients: Locating the ingredients for homemade laundry detergent seemed like a difficult task. However, when I finally gave in to the idea of actually looking in my grocery store I found the ingredients quite easy to locate. They were all available in one store! If you cannot locate ingredients, see the website Soaps Gone Buy. Even with the shipping charges you will save money in the long run.

The Recipes: Below are recipes for both powdered and wet detergent. I have new front-loading, high-capacity, energy efficient washers and needed to make sure that the recipe I chose yielded little suds. It turns out that all of the recipes claim to make little or no suds. My experience with the powdered detergent showed no suds at all, which is normal – the detergent is quite effective even with the absence of suds. (I have not tried the wet version but I have heard that it also yields low suds)

The Process: Hmmmm. Perhaps the easiest part was actually making the detergent. All I did was throw all the ingredients into a food processor and voila! Detergent! Hint: Save the measuring cups from your current detergent to use for both measuring ingredients and scooping the finished product.

The Storage Container: For now I am using a Ziploc bag and an old detergent measuring cup. These work just fine. To be fancy though, I ordered an old fashioned one-gallon jar with a screw top lid. The jar is clear so I can easily see how much detergent I have left.

The Cost: Oh how I love to report this! For about $8 I was able to buy all the ingredients. I cannot give an exact period in which these ingredients will run out, but let me say that they will last a long, long time. I will do better measurements next time I make a batch and report an estimate on how far my $8 will go.

Washing: I use my homemade detergent just as I did commercial detergent except I use it in much, much smaller amounts. For a large load of laundry, I add 2 tablespoons of homemade detergent. Our clothes come out smelling, looking, and feeling clean. My husband did not notice a change at all – even in our sheets.

RECIPES – These and additional recipes can be found at the Frugal Shopper.


Powdered Laundry Detergent

1 Cup Grated Fels Naptha Soap
1/2 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Borax

For light load, use 1 tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 tablespoons.
See HERE for the canisters in which I store my detergent.

Liquid Laundry Detergent

3 Pints Water
1/3 Bar Fels Naptha Soap, Grated
1/2 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Borax
2 Gallon Bucket
1 Quart Hot Water
Hot Water

Mix Fels Naptha soap in a saucepan with 3 pints of water, and heat on low until dissolved. Stir in Washing Soda and Borax. Stir until thickened, and remove from heat. Add 1 Quart Hot Water to 2 Gallon Bucket. Add soap mixture, and mix well. Fill bucket with hot water, and mix well. Set aside for 24 hours, or until mixture thickens. Use 1/2 cup of mixture per load.
See HERE for the canisters in which I store my detergent.