One of the most popular recipes in my book is homemade laundry soap–it’s easy to to make and makes a huge difference in our lives in many ways! Mix up a batch– you’ll never go back to the commercial brands! : )

One of the simplest, yet large differences, I have made to our family‘s clean routine is in our laundry soap. Everything we wash touches us in some fashion, and the chemical residue of commercial laundry products is absorbed into us through our largest organ: our skin. This was one of the first big changes we made years ago; it‘s healthier, simple to do, and cheap! This is a very easy recipe, with great results and I can adjust it as needed for my family. I tend to add a dash or so more Borax or washing soda, as my husband comes in with grease and dirt on his clothes more often than not, and these products are great degreasers! This recipe is literally foolproof, because no matter how I‘ve messed it up, it always gets our clothes clean!

Homemade Laundry Soap: First, find a big old pot. (I have an old one used specifically for making soaps/cleaners—I have written ―CLEANERS on it with a marker and put up high on a shelf in the laundry room – no one will be mistaking it, and accidentally cooking food in it!).

I add to the pot: 4Q water.

Then put this on the burner, medium heat:

½ C 20 Mule Team Borax® (sodium borate)

½ C Arm & Hammer Washing Soda ® (sodium carbonate)

Stir….then add… 1/3 to 1/2C grated up bar of Fels-Naptha®

You can usually find Borax, Fels-Naptha or Washing Soda at your local ―Mom & Pop grocer. (Note: washing soda is not the same as baking soda) Fels-Naptha, it seems, is getting harder to find these days BUT, it can be found at the Homestead Originals website.

Now, heat on medium high at this point and stir (again, with a spoon just for your cleaners-not cooking!) until it‘s dissolved. This will then need to cool down (an hour or so), and then we‘ll pour 1/3rd into each of our 3 old laundry soap/fabric softener containers (100 oz size). Fill the remainder of each with HOT water, put the lid on tight and shake thoroughly. That‘s really about it.

This recipe will generally gel up and become quite thick, so that is why I like to put it into old laundry jugs. They have a tight fitting lid and I can shake it up or add more hot water if needed. Old gallon milk jugs or an old bucket (with lid!) will work here too. You really can’t mess this soap up—it IS that easy. If it’s really thick, add some more hot water and shake it up. If it’s really runny, I just call it a “learning experience” and use a bit more in each load with that particular batch of laundry soap – it will still get your clothes clean.

Occasionally I will add a little lavender or a favorite essential oil or blend for a little light fragrance, or special property I want the oil to add to the laundry soap. Otherwise there is not a whole lot of ―smell to this, which can be nice too! I usually ―eyeball my measurement into the wash, but approximately a ½ C works very well, and gives a nice clean to the clothes without the chemical residue that commercial brands leave behind. This amount will last us our family of five a month or more, including washing cloth diapers almost daily, give or take. I don‘t strictly measure for each load, but it ranges in price from ONE TO THREE cents per load! You can’t beat that for a healthy laundry soap!

 ~Lisa

Posted: Tuesday, June 12th, 2012 @ 7:23 am
Categories: Homemade Clean, Homestead Simplicity!, The Homestead, The Prepared Homestead.
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