Comments on: Household Recipes: Homemade Laundry Detergent

By: Vicki

Vicki — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:57:33 +0000

Is this ok for people with sensitivity to a lot of detergents? I can not use anything except GAIN..no tide no arm and hammer detergent etc…would this be likely to cause break outs? Im not quite sure what it is in the soaps that causes the break outs..thats not in GAIN?

By: nancy

nancy — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:39:03 +0000

wanted to give a quick update. I do a lot of laundry in our house so I am already making a second batch. went to walmart for all the ingredients and picked a farberware rotary grater for under $6.00 and it took less than 10 min to grate all the fels naptha. well worth the money . i will never buy pre made laundry soap again.

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:10:00 +0000

I think the ratio for the “smaller batch” is wrong – it should be 3 cups & 3 cups -

shown as:

Homemade Laundry Detergent

*This was based off of Tipnut.com’s recipe #4, I just altered the amounts
■4 Bars Laundry Soap (to yield 12 cups of soap shavings)
■6 Cups Borax (this is roughly one box)

■6 Cups Washing powders (this is roughly one box)

Grate soap using cheese grater. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well. Place in sealed container and measure out two tablespoons for each load.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Smaller Batch Recipe
■2 Cups Laundry Soap Shavings (you can get this easily from one bar)
■1 Cup Borax
■1 Cup Washing Soda

By: What You’ve Been Cooking – Digest 6-17-11 | Southern Plate

What You’ve Been Cooking – Digest 6-17-11 | Southern Plate — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 19:29:05 +0000

[...] from the Front Porch- I made the laundry detergent today with the Fels bar soap and it smells so yummy! my bedding from the pad up is being washed. [...]

By: nancy arena

nancy arena — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:24:51 +0000

I have never used a “homemade” laundry detergent before. bought ingredients yesterday at Wal-mart. Tried it for the first time on my husbands work clothes.Could not believe how well it got all the dirt and smell out. Save us money and like the fact it does not suds up. Put white vinager in the rinse water.Thanks for the great idea. Love your website and tweets.

By: Cheryl Webster

Cheryl Webster — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:54:54 +0000

I use the same detergent in liquid form. I make a 5 gallon bucket full and it last us about 6 months. I find all ingredients at Krogers. We’ve used it for about 2 or 3 years and love it! Saves a bunch of money! It’s about a nickel a load! I doesn’t suds so it can be used in energy efficient machines.

By: Jo-Ellen Breedlove

Jo-Ellen Breedlove — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:56:16 +0000

Here’s recipe I’ve use for several years, a little bit different from yours:

1 bar = 1 1/3 cup grated soap
Powdered Laundry Detergent 1 1/3 cup grated Fels Naptha Soap, slightly less than3/4 cup washing soda, slightly less than 3/4 cup 20 mule team borax Mix and store in airtight container or bag. For light loads use 1 tablespoon. For normal loads, use 2 tablespoons. For heavy loads, use 3 tablespoons. Cost per “normal” load .15

By: Linda

Linda — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:40:27 +0000

I have been using this homemade clothes detergent for a little over a year & love it! Also, if you don’t want to grate your soap-here is an alternative and faster way. Place your Fels Naptha or Zote on a microwavable plate & microwave for no longer than 3 minutes at a time. It will look like a science experiment with the reaction. After you remove the plate, make sure to let the soap cool-it will burn your fingers if you don’t. After it is cool, you can just mash the soap and mix it in with the rest of the ingredients. You may have to remicrowave some of the larger pieces left.

By: Sandi

Sandi — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:28:29 +0000

I started using vinegar in place of fabric softener when I noticed my son was itching all the time. As soon as I did the itching stopped. We love using vinegar.

By: Debi

Debi — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:08:48 +0000

This is how I do my laundry soap and LOVE it! It is so inexpensive, works great, and love not having to lug in heavy laundry detergent constantly.