Laundry Soap WAS Much Too Expensive

I haven't bought laundry soap in more than two years. You read that right, two years. I stumbled upon a homemade liquid laundry soap recipe from the Duggars of 19 Kids & Counting fame and decided to give it a try because I physically shuddered at paying $12-25 every month at the store. Additionally, EVERYONE in my house has sensitive skin and I thought it might be nice to remove some more chemicals from our lives.

 

I made a shopping run to our local True Value and bought the following: Borax 20 Mule Team for $6.99, Arm & Hammer Washing Soda for $4.79, and a bar of Fels Naptha for $1.49. That's right at $14 after tax.

*Rapidly browning bananas and adorable dog not included.

The grater came from Dollar Tree and I purchased a 5 gallon bucket to keep it in from Lowe's for $4.86. Everything together for my first batch was right over $20. The only thing I've had to buy since my original ingredient purchase is a bar of Fels Naptha every 6-8 months at $1.49. It was more frequent when Sam was a baby because of the amount of clothes we went through for him on a weekly basis but right now I'm less than halfway through the batch I made in January.

 

Also, I still have enough Borax and Washing Soda to make at least 3 more batches so basically, I went from about a $225 expense per year to barely more than $25.00 in two years.

 

And yes, to answer my frequently asked question, it really does clean. Even baby messes, even toddler messes, even Engineer husband messes, even mom-who-loves-to-cook messes. Heavy stains will require extra attention but I keep an extra bar of Fels Naptha and rub it straight on them before they go in the machine. It's worked for us so far. Note: We did not use cloth diapers for Sam so I can't speak to the efficacy of this soap on them.

 

Finally, this really is easy. It will take you 20 minutes and saves you so much money to spend on other fun family things.

 

Happy soap making/money saving!

 

Here's the recipe: 

*4  Cups - hot tap water
*1  Fels-Naptha soap bar
*1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda * Baking soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium bicarbonate.
*½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. You can use a regular stock pot for this (No chemicals and washes VERY clean.) Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. (It'll sort of look liked shredded paper in gooey water at this point. Don't worry, you're right on track.) Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

•Works well in traditional or HE machines.

•Low sudsing. It is the ingredients in the soap, not the suds, that does the cleaning.

•Clumping and geling of the detergent is normal. Stir before putting in dispenser, and shake before each use.

•For stains, consider using an inexpensive spray-on stain remover before washing. (Zout, Spray 'n' Wash, Oxyclean)