How to Make Homemade Laundry Soap

October 16, 2011 By

Several years ago my husband introduced a 5 gallon bucket of slime as our new laundry soap. I skeptically said, “Fine- if you make it than I’ll use it, but I don’t have time to make my own soap!”

Today I made yet another batch of this detergent, because long ago I was convinced and took over the job. As I got out my supplies I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to pass on the fun and savings to you!

I did a quick search on amazon today and prices ranged between $0.12-0.34 per load of liquid detergents compared to about $0.02 for the homemade soap. The Simple Dollar did a side by side mustard test using homemade soap and Tide with bleach alternative- the results: both detergents cleaned the same. With a house full of 3 boys we do a LOT of laundry around here, and our pockets appreciate the yearly savings.

Ingredients and Supplies:
1 bar Castile Soap, grated
1 cup Washing Soda (not the same as baking soda)
1/2 cup Borax
5 gallon bucket
Funnel
Empty vinegar jugs (my favorite because they’re tall, slender and fit nicely up in my cupboard.)

You can buy Kirk’s Castile Soap at amazon.com or Lucky Vitamin. You can use Ivory or Fels-Naptha too, I just recommend using something fragrance free.

Grate a bar of soap into a pot and add 4 cups of water.

Melt the soap over medium-high heat, but don’t let the water boil.

Pour the soapy water into a 5 gallon bucket. Add 3 gallons of hot water. Mix in the washing soda and borax.  After you stir everything thoroughly then line up your empty bottles. It’s helpful to have someone hold the funnel as you fill each jug 3/4 full. You need to leave room because it must be shaken before each use.  We use 1 cup per load in our top load machine.  I hope you have fun making your own laundry soap!! It is so easy and saves a lot of money!  It took a little convincing from my hubby, but now I won’t ever go back!

Blessings, Sarah Renee

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13 Comments | Filed Under: Homemaking
About Sarah Renee

Sarah Renee has been married to her best friend for 8 wonderful years and is a stay-at-home mom to their 3 adorable boys.

In 2009 her kitchen was all shook up when her husband was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Now Sarah imagines she is the gluten free version of America's Test Kitchen as she experiments with gluten free recipes. She posts all the success stories at Rise Above Gluten.

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  • Anonymous

    This is great I make the powdered detergent but haven’t ventured to liquid yet. I’ll have to try the vinegar bottles for storage I hadn’t heard that idea yet!

  • Julierobbins2

    I have tried it both ways. I went back to Tide, and sometimes cheaper detergent. It can be cheaper, but I didn’t think it worked as well getting stuff white.

  • SarahRenee

    I like to use a scoop of Oxi Clean as well– a fantastic whitener and stain remover.

  • http://www.purelife.us Coll Family

    We use the LaundryPure appliance that hooks up to our washer…no soap needed…it helped us with our skin allergies to the fragrances in the soaps…

  • Atlea

    I’ve made this and it fades our clothes. I will finish using it up but am not so sure I’ll make it again. Anyone else have this experience too? Know of any other homemade detergents that don’t fade clothes?

  • Bethany K

    When do you add the vinegar and how much do you use?

  • Atlea

    Thank you!
    I think there recipe I used called for 1 cup washing soda rather than 1/2 cup and a Zote bar for the soap. Maybe 1 or both of those made the difference.

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  • Bonita Masters

    i made the homemade laundry soap today recipe a little different 1/3 bar cheap soap,1/2 cup each washing soda & borax after adding last 2 ingrediants stir until thickened & leave for 24 hours but never said how thick it is to be i’ll find out tomorrow . Anyone have info w/ thickness?

  • martine

    what is the texture of the final laundry ?