Several months ago, while on Pinterest, I came across a recipe for making homemade laundry detergent. Weeks went by I still hadn’t bought the ingredients to make it. Late last fall, I finally made the first batch. WOW! I was impressed with how well the laundry came out. It was so soft and smelled great! Even our towels, no longer smelled like mildew. The original
recipe I found said that I could use ivory soap or Irish spring. For several months, I used ivory. But recently switched to Irish spring (original scent). I make a large batch about every month. I haven’t taken the time to count how many loads. We are a family of four. I do a lot of laundry, sometimes twice a week!
Here is the recipe;
Food processor
1 bar of Fels-Naptha .98 cents (I usually buy 3)
2 bars of Irish spring soap Pack of 8 bars $4.27
3 cups of Borax $3.38
3 cups of Super washing soda $3.24
Total cost $13.83 for about 3 months of laundry soap.
Step 1- Use the blade that has a cheese grater on it. Put the Fels-Naptha bar in the food processor (grate it like cheese.)
Step 2- do the same thing with the Irish spring bars of soap.
Empty the grated up soap into a bowl.
Step 3- Change the blade to the mixing blade on the processor. Add some of the grated soap and a 1 cup of each the borax and the washing soda. Keep adding until all the ingredients are mixed together.
My processor will not hold all the ingredients at once. So I have to mix in portions. Then I dump it all together into a large container.
Use 1 tablespoon of laundry soap for each load.
Becky is a stay at home mommy of two cute girls, Natalie and Eva. I love to scrapbook, blog about our girls, make crafts, and I enjoy spending time with my police officer husband. I am always looking for ways to save money.
Dee @ Start Dreaming says
I just recently made my own Dishwashing Soap and it uses a few of the same ingredients! I am going to pin this recipe and see if maybe it would be okay for us. We have a few detergent allergies in the family.
Looks so easy!!!
Ari says
How cool! I would love to try this! And only a tablespoon for a load? That’s amazing! It will last quite some time in our house and save money from not having to buy the gallons of brand-name detergent!
tami s says
I recently found a similar recipe without the ivory and was looking for a way to add scent and I think this recipe solves he problem. Gonna try it.
Sam Dock says
I really want to try this, but Im not sure I could use it on my sons cloth diapers.
Maddie K. says
I make my own laundry soap. I don’t add irish spring, I just use the Fels. I do add 1 Cup of purex crystals per bar of soap though. Also, as a suggestion, take the soap out of the packaging and let it air out for a week before processing or grating. It makes it easier to combine and grate. I use my food processor when I make the powder.
Amber Dyer says
I like this idea when i can i will try this. i am worried about skin irritations. i have 5 kids each diff skin problems
Stefanie says
Thanks for the tip Maddie! I will tell my friend Becky, that shared this recipe with us, that tip! I can’t wait to make my own laundry detergent!
Debra C says
Can you use this front loader washers?
Cindy says
It’s use one cup per load. Just thought you might want to know this in case you try and one tablespoon doesn’t work.
Sue says
No, it really is one tablespoon per load!