How To Make Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap – Only $.03 Per Load
Learn how to make homemade liquid laundry soap that is all natural and costs less than $.03 per load. This simple and easy homemade laundry soap cleans effectively and works well as a stain remover.
My experience…
I first started making this homemade laundry detergent when I was pregnant with my firstborn and preparing to be a stay at home Mom many years ago. I started looking for ways I could cut costs out of our budget and bring more all natural products into our home. After trying this recipe, I have never looked back. I’ve washed thousands of loads of laundry in our home with this detergent and it has saved us lots of money over the years! Its gentle enough for babies and those with sensitive skin, and I have used it successfully to wash many loads of cloth diapers.
Making Your Own Laundry Detergent Is Simple and Inexpensive – Only $.03 Per Load
This recipe is very quick and easy to make and after you’ve made it a couple of times, you won’t even need to look up the recipe. We make a batch of this laundry soap 2-3 times per year for our family of seven, so it lasts a long time. This soap is made with three simple ingredients that I like to keep on hand, so whenever I run low on laundry soap, I can easily whip up a batch. The best part is that it costs less than $5 to make a 5 gallon bucket full – which equates to less than $.03 per load. To buy that much in commercial detergents would cost you almost $100.
Three simple ingredients
This homemade liquid laundry detergent is made out of Fels Naptha soap, washing soda (not baking soda) and borax. You can add in some essential oils if you’d like, but it’s not necessary. You’ll also need a 5 gallon bucket to put it in, and the best part is that it takes less than 15 minutes to make.
What Is Fels Naptha?
Fels-Naptha bar soap is one of the oldest household products that is still available today. This vintage laundry bar was first made in 1893 and works just as good today as it did all those decades ago. It can be used to make your own laundry detergent, to treat tough stains or hand wash clothes, to remove poison ivy oils from clothes, and many other household uses. It works well to get rid of a ring around the collar, spaghetti sauce stains on a white shirt and the list goes on…
What Is Washing Soda?
Washing Soda (sodium carbonate) is different than baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Washing soda can be purchased from your local grocery store in the laundry aisle or from Amazon. You can also make your own washing soda out of baking soda. Just place your dry baking soda powder into a baking dish in a 400 degree oven and bake it for 40 minutes. Now you have washing soda! The heat changes the chemical composition and PH turning baking soda into washing soda. If you make your own washing soda out of baking soda, your laundry detergent would be even cheaper to make.
What Is Borax?
Borax (sodium borate) is a salt that is commonly available in powder or granular form and has many industrial and household uses. You can usually find it in the laundry detergent aisle in most grocery stores.
Effectiveness of Homemade Detergent
Living the homestead lifestyle means lots of dirty clothes from gardening, barn chores, cutting wood and being outside. So when looking for a DIY laundry soap recipe, I wanted a liquid version because it seems to dissolve in the washing machine faster and clean the clothes better. We all know these newer high efficiency washing machines on the market today don’t always do the best job of washing clothes, and I don’t like finding powdered laundry soap still caked on my clothes when my washing machine doesn’t add enough water to the cycle to dissolve it.
Toxins in Commercial Laundry Detergent
Most commercial laundry detergents contain very harsh chemicals. You can read more about some of the toxic chemicals here. Commercial laundry detergents can also be hard on your septic system.
Treatment for Tough Stains
If you have a tough nasty stain on a garment, just get that area of the garment wet and rub a bar of fels naphtha soap vigorously on the stain. Scrub it as much as you can and then throw the garment into a load of laundry and watch the stain disappear. I always keep several Fels Naptha bars of soap on hand for this very purpose.
Tips for making your own homemade laundry detergent
- You can scent it with essential oils which can give your laundry a nice clean smell depending on the essential oils you choose. For my last batch of laundry soap I used a few drops of patchouli and lavender essential oils and I am really liking the results. It gives my load of laundry and laundry room a sweet, yet earthy scent that I really enjoy.
- After this natural laundry soap sets up, it can become a more gel like consistency. I just keep a ½ cup measuring cup in my bucket of soap and add a ½ cup of soap to each load of laundry.
Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap Ingredients and Supplies
Water
20-30 drops essential oils of your choice (I like lavender and patchouli)
How to make homemade liquid laundry soap
Grate bar of Fels Naptha soap with cheese grater (can also use a food processor)
Put the soap in a medium size sauce pan with 1 quart of cold water
Cook over medium heat until the grated soap is completely melted. Watch it closely as it will boil over.
Pour melted soap mixture into 5 gallon bucket. Fill bucket half full with hot water.
Add 1 cup of washing soda and 1 cup of borax. Mix well.
Add essential oils (optional). I like 15 drops of lavender and 15 drops of patchouli essential oil.
Fill bucket up the rest of the way with warm water. Stir well.
Put the lid on the bucket and let it set a few hours or overnight.
It will have a slight gel consistency.
How to use homemade laundry soap
Add ½ cup soap to each load of laundry.
Making laundry soap is quick and easy and you can feel good about using this all natural soap without all the chemicals. Plus you’re saving so much money! This soap saves our family of seven over $300 per year.
Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap
Homemade liquid laundry soap that is all natural and costs less than $.03 per load
Ingredients
- 1 bar Fels Naptha soap
- 1 cup Washing Soda
- 1 cup Borax
- 1 quart Water
- 5 gallon bucket with a lid
- Cheese grater
- 20-30 drops essential oil of your choice
Instructions
- Grate bar of Fels Naptha soap with cheese grater (can also use a food processor)
- Put the soap in a medium size sauce pan with 1 quart of cold water
- Cook over medium heat until the grated soap is completely melted. Watch it closely as it will boil over.
- Pour melted soap mixture into 5 gallon bucket. Fill bucket half full with warm water.
- Add 1 cup of washing soda and 1 cup of borax. Mix well.
- Add essential oils (optional). I like 15 drops of lavender and 15 drops of patchouli essential oil.
- Fill bucket up the rest of the way with warm water. Stir well.
- Put the lid on the bucket and let it set a few hours or overnight.
- It will have a slight gel consistency.
Notes
Add ½ cup soap to each load of laundry.
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