Hello, I’m so excited to share my homemade laundry soap with you today!
As a mom, I am always trying to find ways to better our home environment.
I am moving more and more toward homemade items for a number of reasons.
I’m educating myself about why this is beneficial and I’ll be sharing all this with you soon…
and I need to try things out before I share them!
Last week I made my own laundry soap.
Here’s what you need: *See below for info how to use.
Borax – 2 cups. Found with the laundry items in most grocery stores. I purchased it at Target.
Washing Soda – 2 cups (I couldn’t find this so I made my own). *Bake baking soda on a cookie sheet in a 400-degree oven for 10- 20 minutes until it turns from smooth to grainy. Stir with a heat safe spoon or spatula a time or two during baking. See photo. When baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) gets heated, it turns into washing soda (Sodium Carbonate).
You can find them here or see what you’re looking for if you purchase at the store. Don’t forget these are large boxes so I have lots of Borax leftover for several more batches of soap!
Baking Soda- 2 cups. Found at any grocery store.
Essential Oil – 20 drops. I used lavender. I purchased mine from Young Living. The lavender is part of the starter kit but you can buy lavender on its own also. You can find it here.
Pure Castile Soap – One bar grated. I used lavender that I purchased at Target. You can also find it here. You can use any pure all natural bar soap!
I use Young Living oils you can visit my Page to purchase.
Mix all ingredients.
I use about 1/4 of the scoop pictured. About 2-4 TBSP depending on load size.
I made a laundry printable for you!
You can download the PDF to print— >laundry labels (1) When printing check fit to page so they all fit!
I love using this and after nearly a week and a lot of laundry, I’m really happy with the way it’s working.
I picked up the clear scoop for a couple dollars at Wegmans.
I’m using this with my HE front loading machine and have had no issues.
I put the mixture right on top of the clothes and run the wash.
If you want I have read that you can add to the drum then add the clothes.
Don’t add to the soap dispenser, I think that is made just for liquid soap.
Please let me know if you try this I would love to know how you like it!
*This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something using these links I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Have a great day!
Is your homemade laundry soap made for all washers? I have a front loader.
This post is so timely as my husband and I were just discussing the possibility of making our own laundry detergent last night. I have recently begun making some of my own home cleaning products and have loved the way they work and the money we save is an added bonus! However, my husband had a valid concern about making detergent…we have a high efficiency washing machine and the manufacturer recommends only using detergents formulated for a HE machine. Do you know if home made detergents are considered safe for use in a HE machine? I am concerned about the amount of suds the Castile soap might generate.
Hi Dorene! I’ll add that to the post. I’m using this with my front-load high-efficiency washer! I did a lot of reading about using it with the HE front loaders and everything I read says people are using it with no issues. I found with one bar of the castile soap in the mixture there aren’t a lot of suds!
I am using it with my front loader. I put it in right on top of the clothes not in the soap dispenser.
Awesome! I have been making my own laundry soap for a couple of years, now. I had a front loader washer & put the powder right in the dispenser. I also make my own fabric softener sheets, too. I don’t use liquid fabric softener but, I use white vinegar & pour that right into the dispenser labeled fabric softener. I found out by using the homemade stuff my front loader was always clean & fresh smelling. My recipe for the one I use is 1 box of 20 Mule Borax, 1 box of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, 1 large box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda, 3 bars of Fels Naptha soap. I use a food processor in small batches to mix it all together. I could get all the ingredients at Walmart. I love making my own homemade stuff!
That’s good info! Thank you!! Add a few drops of Essential Oil and it will smell great! :)
I don’t mean to be a “Debbie downer”, but I have a friend that is an appliance repairman and he told me to NEVER use these homemade soaps in a HE machine. He said that it will clog the machine up and cost big bucks to repair. I hope you don’t have issues but thought I would pass along his advice.
Hi Carol. I guess there are lots of different opinions on this. A lot of what I read are HE users and they have used it with no issues. I’m not a machine expert but I think it might have something to do with the amount of suds? This recipe is low suds but I’ll make a note of it! Maybe to make a test batch first! Thank you!!
Thanks for the recipe , and your whites cone out white, what about sennsetive shink family members, how dose this sop affect them at all? That is making me a little unsure about making my own ??
Pamela so far it’s been great! On the whites issue I’ve never been crazy about the whites being white. I wash them separately with hot water. I almost never use bleach. The smell gives me a headache so I just know they are clean and that’s enough for me! I personally don’t have anyone with overly sensitive skin but these ingredients are natural and given that fact I think they will be fine. If you want to try it. Make one batch and see how it goes! Do a test run if you will!
I use this recipe and absolutely love it. I also use white vinegar in the rinse cycle and everything works great.