Unlike most of my other ridiculously frugal friends, I’ve been slow to join the latest “make-your-own-laundry-detergent” craze. After all, I can usually buy the leading brand on sale. Add in some coupons, and it hardly seems worth the effort to make my own detergent. Seriously, who wants to grate a bar of soap every month?
Then came the day when I had more laundry and month than I had money in my household-cleaning budget. I’m super committed to staying within budget, so while I couldn’t afford the leading detergent, I did have enough money to buy the Borax, Washing Soda, and Fels Naptha soap I needed to make my own. (I already had a box of Oxi Clean on my laundry room shelf.)
Homemade laundry detergent ingredients
Reluctantly, I brought my ingredients home and began mixing up my first batch of homemade laundry detergent. At first, I wasn’t super impressed with the results. It took a little while to grate the soap in my old blender. (Since then, I’ve found that—for me—it’s much more effective to grate the soap by hand. This takes me about 3 minutes, much less time than I thought it would.)
The first few loads came out fine. Occasionally, I noticed a stain that didn’t come out, but no detergent is fool-proof, so I kept using the homemade variety.
It was after a few weeks of using this recipe that I discovered a big difference in my clothes. As I was pulling my towels out of the dryer, I noticed that they were extra soft. Same for the kids’ soccer uniforms, all of our jeans, and my husband’s T-shirts.
I’m not sure if the leading brand of detergent leaves a residue, or if the washing soda actually softens the water while it cleans, but I’m really happy with the outcome. Add in the fact that it costs me about $.05 a load, as compared to the $.25 per load I was spending when I bought the national brand, and I have to say, “I’m sold!”
If you’d like to start saving a ton of money on laundry detergent—and get softer clothes in the process—here’s my recipe:
Homemade Laundry Detergent
Ingredients:
1 cup Borax
1 cup Super Washing Soda
1 bar Fels Naptha soap
¼ cup Oxi Clean (optional)
Instructions:
A hand-held grater like this one is perfect for grating the Fels Naptha soap.
Grate the Fels Naptha soap into a bowl.
Add the Borax, Super Washing Soda, and Oxi Clean. Stir.
The final product will look like this.
Pour the mixture into a blender (about a cup at a time) and blend until all the ingredients mix together.
Store in an airtight container.
Note: I use 1 Tablespoon of laundry detergent per load. (I own a high-efficiency washing machine, so you might have to experiment a little to determine the right amount of detergent for you.) For heavily soiled loads, I add a little Borax and Super Washing Soda to the soak cycle. That’s really all it takes to get a whole load clean!
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Do you dissolve this in water at all before you put it in your HE machine? Just curious. I think I am going to make this! Also, where did you buy the soap? I have not heard of this brand and am not sure if it would be hard to find. Thanks, Mary Jane!
Hi, Sarah. I don’t dissolve the detergent in water. Just add it in as you would any other powdered detergent. You can get Fels Naptha soap at any major retailer. I have purchased mine at Kroger, Meijer, and Walmart. Plan to spend a little more than a dollar per bar. You’ll find it in the laundry aisle near the other laundry boosters, like the Borax and Super Washing Soda. (I had to ask a sales associate the first time, and even she had a hard time finding it! Once you know where to look, you should locate it pretty easily in any store!)
Now that I know that I like it, I always double the batch to save time later. Good luck!
Here all this time I was adding water to this mix, it was VERY time consuming, it made about 2 gallons and you put 1/2c in per load. Your method took me 10 minutes, I can’t wait to try it. I hate buying laundry soap, thanks for the tip.
I agree, Kathy. This option is MUCH simpler. Be sure to let us know what you think of its “stain washing” power.
Hi, Jodi. I haven’t tried the recipe without the OxiClean, so I’m not sure what kind of difference it makes. LOL! I guess I was nervous as to how the homemade laundry detergent would perform and thought I would give it all the help it could get. (Plus, I’m not one for spending a lot of time in front of the washing machine to get out stains, as my kids will tell you. I don’t even check pockets, much to my chagrin when I pull clothes out of the dryer with dried-on chocolate or red candy attached!!)
Hey Mary Jane! I just had to comment because I have made my own laundry soap before and LOVED it! Although, I have never added Oxi Clean to my recipe–did it make a difference for your clothes? You made mention that there were some stains leftover on your clothes. In regards to that, just take the same Fels Naptha bar, with a little water, and rub the soap on the stain. Just let it sit for about 5 minutes and then throw it in the wash. I have “fixed” so many clothes stains and I won’t use anything else! Best stain remover ever! Thanks for the post!