How to Make Homemade Laundry Soap

If you are the do-it-yourself type, making laundry soap is probably something you have often considered doing. It’s not that difficult, and there are several recipes for homemade laundry detergent (or laundry soap) that can work very well for you.

The major ingredients in most laundry soap recipes consist of a bar of soap, washing soda, and borax. These can be prepared as powders or liquids and adjusted for anyone with skin sensitivities.

Tips for Making Your Own Laundry Detergent

Here are some key points you might want to consider before you make laundry soap.

• Ingredients are an important consideration in laundry soap. If you have allergies, you probably won’t want to use perfume filled soap bars in your laundry detergent because these can result in allergic reactions. Some popular ingredients are: Ivory soap, along with Zote, Kirk’s Castile Soap, Fels-Naptha, and Sunlight.
• Borax and washing soda are good as well and are usually found in laundry and cleaning areas of the grocery store.
• Although most homemade laundry soaps are similar, there are variations in the quantities used between one and another. You should test several recipes to be sure that you have the one that is best for you and your family.
• Depending on the type of water you have, this could affect the results.
• Some recipes are liquid cleaners and you will need to find buckets or large containers to place the mixture in, especially for those recipes containing large amounts of water. You can find second hand pails from several sources that can be cleaned or purchase new ones from a home improvement store. You will want to make sure you get buckets or containers with resealable lids.

Liquid Laundry Soap Recipe

Making liquid soap requires melting the bar soap and mixing it with the borax, washing soda, and water.

You will also need a large pot, large enough container or bucket with lid and a cheese grater. I use all of these only for the purpose of making soap.

Optional Ingredients

An optional ingredient that many people like to use is essential oil, this will give the detergent a nice scent. Some oils you might consider are tea tree oil, rosemary, or lavender. There are also readymade blends you can use such as Plant Therapy Deodorizing blend.

Just put 10 to 20 drops of oil to two gallons of the liquid homemade detergent.

Liquid Laundry Soap Recipe

• 1 bar grated soap you’d like to use (we listed several above)
• 1 cup Borax
• 1 cup Washing Soda
• Three gallons of water
• Optional – Essential Oil (as listed above)

Turn the burner to medium. Add one gallon water to pot. Add in the grated soap and stir pretty continuously for about 15 minutes, you don’t want the mixture to come to a heavy boil and boil over as this will create a messy mess you won’t want to clean – so watch as you are melting the soap.

When the soap has melted, add in the Borax and Washing Soda and continue to stir until dissolved. Pour the mixture into a large container and add in the remaining two gallons of water and stir in the essential oil if you choose to use it.

The soap you just made should sit overnight prior to use. It will become separated and gel like – you will need to stir before use. Depending on the load size, use between 1/2 cup to 1 cup soap.

Laundry Soap for Sensitive Skin

When you make your own laundry soap, keep track of the soap used, if you have any problems, you can modify the recipe. The basic ingredients of washing soda and borax cannot be removed from the ingredient list, but you can try different bar soaps, especially if you have family members with sensitive skin. You may also want to consider mixing a small batch of laundry soap to begin with to see if there are any issues.