If you like saving money and being crafty…. it’s your happy day!!
This soap is a compilation of several different powdered laundry detergent recipes. I tried a bunch of them and ended up combining what worked best for us into my own secret formula.
Except now I’m telling you all and it’s not really a secret anyway ;)
I have also made the liquid version of homemade laundry soap. And I loved it. I really did. But it seemed a little bit more of a process to make. We tended to go through it pretty fast and sometimes there just wasn’t the time or energy to make more. So I went back to {gasp} store bought for awhile.
I find this powdered laundry soap comes together more quickly, lasts much longer and it’s much easier to keep it made up!
POWDERED LAUNDRY DETERGENT
2-4 bars Fels Naptha or Zote laundry soap (I use 3 if using Zote and 4 if using Fels Naptha)
1 box Borax
1 box Washing Soda
1-2 containers of Sun Oxygen cleaner (I use 2)
2-3 cups baking soda
1-2 containers of Purex fabric softener crystals (I use 2 - we have hard water and also I love lots of scent!)
I use my food processor to grate the bars of soap. It sounds loud, but grates the soap just fine.
I cut the Zote bars into chunks and process 1 bar at a time. I also add about 1/2 cup of washing soda into the food processor with each bar. The soda powder seems to help the blades granulate the soap better.
The ingredients take up a LOT of room and you’ll need a BIG bowl or pot for mixing - I use a canning pot and stir until everything is evenly distributed. I would suggest doing the mixing outdoors. The borax and soda can kick up some dust while you’re stirring!
Use a cup or scoop to portion your soap into containers. I got 2 gallon jars + an ice cream bucket from this batch!
You only need 1-2 tablespoons. If your clothes are dirtier than normal or you have hard water, you can use more. We use 2 tablespoons for a normal load and 1/4 cup for really large or dirty loads. Because of the Purex crystals, put the soap right in the drum before the clothes, if you have an HE washer.
Some notes:
Don’t be surprised if the ingredients don’t look completely mixed in the jar. Just grab your scoop of soap out and you’ll be fine.
Depending on how much soap you use in each load, this batch will last 6-12 months. We find it lasts about 8 months for us… score!
This laundry soap produces very little suds, but don’t worry! Your clothes will smell amazing and be clean! Because of the lack of suds, it is safe for use in HE washers.
We find the soap is gentle enough for our dry/eczema prone skin and it has caused no reactions.
The Purex crystals smell wonderful and soften the clothes without any additional fabric softener liquid or dryer sheets!
It should be easy to find all these ingredients. They will be in your local supermarket or supercenter in the laundry/cleaning products aisle. They even have the ingredients grouped together on the shelves now – making your own laundry soap must be getting popular!
The Zote soap, borax, Purex crystals, washing & baking sodas cost just over $26 total…. I think that’s pretty good for 8 months worth of laundry!
Until next time,
xo 
I've seen a lot of DIY laundry detergent posts popping up lately! Talk about money saving! Great idea for putting soap in the food processor, much easier than grating it by hand. Thanks for sharing, and I absolutely LOVE your header! Stopping by from Ginger Snap Crafts :)
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I enjoyed this concoction on your Blog. I have actually made a similar lotion that proved excellent for dry flaky Ashy skin. Matter of fact a friend of mine requested more after using it on I used baby powder scented Vaseline and added extra vitamin E for good measure.
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