Homemade Laundry Detergent

A few months ago as I was buying laundry detergent and as I was placing the bulking plastic container in my cart I promised myself it was the last.  I counted down the loads until it was empty and I could replace it with homemade laundry detergent.

I don't know why I waited so long to try it.  I guess I though it would be time consuming and more expensive, but actually it's neither!

I researched liquid and powder varieties and the powder recipe seemed to be the way to go.  It's cheaper, faster to make, and easier to store.  I can make several batches of the powder at a time saving even more time!

It only takes 3 ingredients (all found in the laundry isle at our grocery store).

• 1 - 5.5 oz bar of Fels-Naptha
• 1 1/4 cup borax
• 1 1/4 cup washing soda

Directions:

      1.  Grate the bar of soap in a bowl.

      2. Add borax and washing soda and stir well.
      3. Place in container for storage.  And that's it!

Use 1 Tbsp per load (or 2 Tbsp for heavily soiled loads).
Each batch yields approximately 32 ounces. (between 32-64 loads based on how many Tbsp used per load).

Price break-down

1 – 5.5oz bar of Fes-Naptha = $0.97 (at wal-mart)
1 – 76oz box of 20 Mule Team Borax = $4.99
1 – 55oz box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda = $3.99

That's $2.36 per batch or only $0.04 - 0.08 per load (depending on how much you use).

How does that stack up to store bought?

Seventh Generation Liquid Laundry - 50oz (33 loads) $8.99* = $0.28 per load
Tide Powder Detergent - 95oz (68 loads) $23.49* = $0.34 per load
Homemade Powder Detergent - 32oz (64 loads) $2.36 = $0.04 per load


*prices from Amazon.com will cross price at the grocery and update.

High Efficiency (HE) Washers

HE front-load washers require “special soap” for one reason alone – low suds. Because they use less water, they require soap that is less sudsy. The good news is, this homemade detergent is VERY low suds. The ”special” HE detergent is just another advertising mechanism to push consumers to buy “special soap” for unnecessarily high prices.
Regardless of your washer type, just make your own in confidence.

 

Safe for septic tanks and fields

This is the best laundry soap to use with septic tanks because it contains zero phosphates and zero fillers (like montmorillonite clay) that cause commercial powder detergents to clog lines. It is also completely non-toxic so it will not harm necessary septic bacteria like toxic detergents and antibacterial soaps. Use with confidence.

 

Is Borax Toxic

After thorough research, I concluded borax is only as toxic as baking soda or table salt; if you ingest it in high quantities, it may make you sick. If you use it as described in our recipes, it poses no toxic threat.