Homemade Laundry Soap Update

In January 2010, I wrote about making and using homemade laundry soap. Today, after two years, I am still making my own laundry soap, and find that it does a great job in cleaning my clothes. In fact, today, I made a new batch.

There is difference, though. I no longer make liquid laundry soap. Instead, I make powder laundry soap. After using the powder for about a year, now, I think it cleans better than the liquid did, and the clothes smell fresher, too. And it is much, much easier to to use than the liquid was. So, here is my new laundry soap recipe:

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Powdered Laundry Soap

3 cups 20 Mule Team Boron
3 cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (buy in the laundry section)
2 bars of Ivory soap

Boron and baking soda are very fine and can adversely affect breathing, so this needs to be mixed carefully. If you are asthmatic, I recommend wearing a breathing mask during this process.

Carefully pour the boron and soda into a 3/4 gallon or gallon plastic container.

In a separate bowl, shred the soap into small flakes. I used to use a food processor for this, but find I get a finer shred scraping the soap with the edge of a paring knife. Power the shreds as much as possible by running your fingers through the soap. Alternatively, you can use a mortar and pestle to powder the soap. It is not necessary to get it as finely powdered as the boron and soda, but it should be fine enough that it quickly melts in water.

Add the soap to the mixture in the plastic jar, screw the lid on tight, and shake until well mixed.

If desired, you can replace some or all of the Ivory with a fragranced soap like Yardley's Honey and Rose or Lavender. Just be sure you use about 6 ounces of soap total with the recipe above. I really like using the Yardley's Lavendar soap bar. My laundry smells nice and fresh when it comes out of the dryer.

Some people use Fels-Naptha bar laundry soap for similar recipes. I tried it, but it made my clothes smell like moth balls, so I haven't used it again. If you can't find Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, you can substitute baking soda. However, you will need to use 4 cups instead of 3.

As with all powdered soaps, you should occasionally clean your washing machine by running it empty with two cups of white vinegar in the water.

For best results:
Use 2 tablespooon per average wash, unless clothes are extremely dirty. Add to washer as machine fills with water.

If you desire to use a fabric softener, add 1/2 to 1 cup of white vinegar to the rinse water. The vinegar smell rinses away. Clothes will smell fresh and cottons will be soft.

Using 2 tablespoon2 for each wash, this recipe lasts for two to three months for the two of us. And there is enough of the boron and soda to make the laundry soap at least twice more, so the buying ingredients gives you enough soap for up to nine months if you buy six bars of Ivory or Yardley's soap.

If you can't find washing soda and boron in your grocery, you can get them below:

Final Laundry Soap Review

In my last post, I discussed the homemade laundry soap I was trying. Just thought I would post a note to let you know that I gave some away to my daughter (don't know if she has tried it, yet), and have just about used up my supply. I will definitely be making more. This soap doesn't make me itch. The persistent rash I have had on my arms is gone. And to top off everything, the clothes actually get clean and smell great!

Over the weekend, I plan to make more so that we won't run out. After using this homemade variety, I do not ever plan to use store bought laundry soap again. It makes me wonder what other household products would be just as good, or better than, store bought products. One thing I have tried, and found to work wonderfully, is using a quarter cup of white vinegar with 3/4 cup of water instead of fabric softener in my wash. The clothes do not smell at all like vinegar, and they are much softer than when I do not use a softener at all. It has been a long time since I used fabric softener in my laundry (skin irritations), so I can't really tell if it is as soft or softer than store bought fabric softener. I do like it, though.

I have some recipes for other homemade household products. I think I will try them out, too.

Homemade Laundry Soap Report

Well, a few days ago, I posted that I was trying a new homemade laundry soap. After I got it made up, life got in the way, and I didn't get to use it until today. This post is the report I promised.

Results:
I had to shake the bottle of laundry soap to get the semi-solids to dissolve back into the liquid, but the recipe mentioned that. My clothes are clean, with no soapy residue. The colors came out bright. They smell fresh and have a soft clean smell--not a heavy laundry perfume smell like you get sometimes with store bought laundry soap.

I have been wearing an outfit today that I washed using the homemade laundry soap. I am so allergic to everything that I have had to change my commercial laundry soap every three months or so to prevent rashes on my arms and back. Even clean clothes washed in commercial laundry soap make me itch. So far, clothes washed in the homemade laundry soap are comfortable, and I am not itching at all. Relief!

At the price, about 1 penny per load, this homemade soap is much more economical than the store bought kind. I believe I will continue to use this from now on. I have no allergic problems with Ivory brand soap or with baking soda, which are two of the main ingredients in the recipe.

To finish up the wash, I used a vinegar and water softener (1/4 cup vinegar to 1 cup of water) in the rinse cycle to soften the clothes.

I am totally impressed. Visit Making Homemade Laundry Soap for the recipe I used. Make sure you use at least a 3 quart pan when you melt the grated soap, though, or you will have a mess to clean up. You will need to shake the soap several times over the first few days to keep it from congealing into a white blob in the liquid, but eventually it does not need this. I used plastic 1 gallon juice bottles to store the soap.

For more homemade cleaning supplies, try Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living. You will also find recipes for made at home shampoo, mouthwash, and other personal care products.

Money Saving Tip for Laundry

As an asthmatic with numerous allergies, cleaning house is a real 'chore,' since I often cannot breathe while using commercial products. Recently, I found a recipe for homemade laundry detergent made from simple, inexpensive ingredients. It did not take long to cook up and has a fresh, clean smell. I am really looking forward to using it, starting tomorrow after it sets up into a gel. I will post here to let you know what I think of the mixture after using it tomorrow.

If you want to try it for yourself, visit Making Homemade Laundry Soap.

According to Crystal Miller's figuring, this money saving laundry soap recipe costs approximately 1¢ per load to use. At this point, the only recommendation I have is to make sure you follow directions on the size of the container you mix the laundry soap in. Otherwise, you will have a foaming mess to clean up.

At my house, even with just the two of us, now that the children are grown and moved away, laundry is a major expense. This recipe should help make that expense more managable.

Image courtesy of Karen Arnold.