Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap (1 cent per load!
)
February 27, 2011 by Jenae - 550 Comments
This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy.
We’re in the process of implementing our newly-created budget. I’m finding that I REALLY don’t like to
spend money on boring stuff because that takes away the money we can use to do fun things (or to pay
down our mortgage)! A few of our biggest and most boring “budget-busters” are dishwashing detergent,
dog food, organic milk ($15 A WEEK…the boys drink SO MUCH milk), and laundry detergent. I can’t
ever seem to find good deals on these items and it drives me crazy!
When I ran across the idea to make homemade laundry soap for basically one cent per load…I was ecstatic!
I used the recipe found on the Duggar Family site. I’ve never watched the show (since we don’t have
cable), but I figured they were experts with the number of loads of laundry they do with all their children!
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to pick up:
 Borax ($2.99 at Walmart or Target–in the laundry aisle, or here)

 Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT Baking Soda–$2.99 at local grocery store in
laundry aisle, or here)
 Fels-Naptha Soap Bar ($1.56 at local grocery store in laundry aisle, or here)
 5-gallon bucket with lid (around $4 at Home Depot)
 10 gallon milk jugs (or other containers) that have been cleaned and rinsed (the concentrate
will disperse more evenly if you go ahead and divide it up.
 OPTIONAL: Essential Oil Drops for fragrance (we did not add this, so I am not sure how
much it costs)
*I could not find the washing soda OR the Fels-Naptha soap at either Walmart or Target. Look at
your local grocery store IN THE LAUNDRY AISLE.
Grand Total: $11.54 for 640 loads (180 loads in a top-loading machine). That’s a little more than 1
cent a load! And the savings are even greater the next time you make this because the only thing
you’ll have to buy is the Fels-Naptha soap bar!
1. Grate the entire bar of the Fels-Naptha soap.

(As you can see, I started off grating it very fine, but realized it was taking too much
time.)
2. Put in a pot with 4 cups of hot water. Stir continuously over medium-low heat until
all of the soap flakes have dissolved and melted (about 10 minutes).
It should be slightly foamy with no “chunks” or flakes to be found.

3. Fill a 5-gallon bucket half-full of hot water.
4. Pour in the soap mixture. Add 1 cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda and 1/2 cup
Borax. Stir.
My husband happened to have a paint stirrer that goes on his drill, so that helped. But if you
don’t have one of these, just use the end of your mop (or something that can reach to the
bottom of the 5-gallon bucket).

5. Fill the rest of the 5-gallon bucket with water until it is full. Stir again.
6. Cover and let it sit overnight.
7. When you open the top up the next day, it should have gelled and thickened slightly.
Stir again.
8. Use a funnel to fill a clean laundry detergent container (or gallon-size milk jug) and
fill it HALF way with the soap mixture. Fill the other half with water and shake.
Optional: Attach a homemade tag using packing tape (especially if giving as gifts)
NOTE: On the second batch that I made, I wanted the concentrate to be more evenly distributed, so I
just saved up our gallon milk containers for a couple weeks and then measured out 8 cups of soap
and 8 cups of water, making sure to mix well after filling each gallon.
I also made some labels with instructions for use to stick on the front of the milk jugs (which will also
ensure that no one accidentally tries to drink it). :) Download the labelshere.
And in case you’re wondering how this laundry soap performs on tough stains, I thought I would do a little
experiment using Prince Charming’s old undershirts.
I poured mustard on shirt #1 and then washed it in Tide Free & Clear.
This is the result.
I then put mustard on another shirt and washed it on the same settings using the
homemade laundry soap.

This was the result.
As you can see, they did a similar job washing the shirt. Neither detergent got the stain
out completely (which of course you would use a stain remover on a stain that tough
normally), but there isn’t a huge difference in the two.

Once you’re ready to use the laundry soap, shake it in the container first. Then add:
-5/8 cups for a regular top-loading machine
-1/4 cup for a front-loading (HE) machine
(revision note: I have been using this for over a year now and found that it works best with 1/2 cup in
my HE machine)
This took us probably around a combined total of only 45-minutes to make!

I have an high-efficiency (HE) machine and have used and will continue to use this laundry soap. I e-
mailed LG, the manufacturer of our machine to see if they “approved” the use of this laundry soap. Here is
the reply I received:

Dear Customer,
LG always recommends to use detergents which has “he” logo on it. Even we do not recommend if its
written ” he compatible”.
Because oversudsing can create residue buildup in drum, it will be necessary to perform cleaning to
remove this residue.
So until we do test in our labs we cannot assure the detergent you make at home is advisable. It
might effect washing performance.
Best regards,
LGE – Dubai
However, I also found this somewhat contradictory information:
“The above recipes will NOT make suds in your washer so don’t be alarmed. Fels Naptha Soap is a
pure soap and typically makes little or no suds in the water. This makes it perfect for use in the new
HE washers as well as traditional washers. You will also notice the need to either reduce
your laundry softener or in most cases you can even eliminate the use of softener completely.”
-From SoapsGoneBuy.Com

If you have a high-efficiency washing machine, the decision is yours as to whether or not you want to
take the risk and use it. Personally, because this soap doesn’t sud at all, I would conclude that it is just
fine. I’ll be using it! And from what I’ve read, it seems as though this soap can be used on cloth diapers
too.
*Go here for the printable version of the instructions.
Now that we’ve tackled homemade laundry detergent…does anybody have a recipe for homemade
dog food??? (Just kidding!)
Related Posts
 Split Pea Soup

 Homemade Window Cleaner
 Elf Munch with White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’S®
 Homemade Face-Paint
 Homemade Afterbite (anti-itch salve for mosquito bites)
 10 Make-Ahead Breakfast Ideas for Christmas Morning

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap (1 cent per load!

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to pick up:

 Borax ($2.99 at Walmart or Target–in the laundry aisle, or here)

1. Grate the entire bar of the Fels-Naptha soap.

It should be slightly foamy with no “chunks” or flakes to be found.

bottom of the 5-gallon bucket).

This is the result.

homemade laundry soap.

normally), but there isn’t a huge difference in the two.

This took us probably around a combined total of only 45-minutes to make!

*Go here for the printable version of the instructions.

 Split Pea Soup

 Elf Munch with White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’S®

 Homemade Afterbite (anti-itch salve for mosquito bites)

 10 Make-Ahead Breakfast Ideas for Christmas Morning

You might also like