Homemade Laundry Soap

To help save money for our family I make our own homemade laundry detergent.  One batch lasts around 3 months.  I wash about 20 loads a week.  So for a smaller family it would go a long ways!  Here is the recipe I use, as well as some pictures of the process.

First, gather your ingredients:

4  Cups - hot tap water
1  Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax


The fels-naptha bar can be bought at Ace Hardware and the Borax and Washing soda come from King Soopers.

 

Grate bar of soap.  I use a cheese grater from the dollar store reserved only for this.  Put in a saucepan along with your water.  Stir continually over medium-low heat with a wire whisk till soap is dissolved and melted.   It's important to stir it continually or the mix will not gel.  You can use it if it's not gelled, it will still clean.  But for me it's a mental thing, it needs to be gelled to seem like I'm using the "right" thing.  :-)

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. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.  This is what it will look like the next day.

Stir.  Divide the mix between two 5 gallon buckets.  Fill each to the top with HOT tap water and stir again.   Fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser with this mix.  Shake before each use.

For those of you who just like to see the recipe without all the pictures, here it is:

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent
4  Cups - hot tap water
1  Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax

1.  Grate bar of soap.  I use a cheese grater from the dollar store reserved only for this.  Put in a saucepan along with your water.  Stir continually over medium-low heat with a wire whisk till soap is dissolved and melted. 

2.  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. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

3.  Stir.  Divide the mix between two 5 gallon buckets.  Fill each to the top with HOT tap water and stir again.   Fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser with this mix.  Shake before each use.
 
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)