How to make DIY Laundry Detergent

by Rebecca on November 23   ///   5 Comments

Photo Credit: Gezellig-Girl.

Our customers are so smart. If you’re trying to save some money for the holidays, or just want a bit of a challenge, try making your own laundry detergent – you can get all the ingredients on Alice!

Kristen over at Gezellig-Girl shares the how-to:

I used a 2:1:1 ratio of grated soap, borax, and washing soda.

Use:
I used about three tablespoons for a front-loading washer. The soap took longer to slightly dissolve in cold water — not so much that it left any soap behind, but I did see flecks of soap in the cold water wash when it went in. (In the warm water wash, the soap dissolved right away.) It was very low-sudsing, which gave me pause, but everything came out really clean. I noticed one of my husband’s shirts had a ring on the collar, which I would have treated if I had seen it earlier, but I just stuffed the shirt in the washer and hoped for the best — totally gone!

Cost:
I bought 55 oz. of washing soda was $2.99 and the borax was $4.29 for 76 oz. Both of those will get used for other cleaning jobs around the house. I also bought three 3.5 oz. bars of this hypoallergenic Dial soap for $1.39.

I don’t have a kitchen scale to measure exactly, but estimating by volume, I used about $0.33 of the borax and $0.32 of washing soda, mixed with one bar ($0.46) of soap, that’s… $1.11 for about 20 washes, or $0.06 per wash. By comparison, the Seventh Generation detergent I had been buying sells for $5.48 for 32 oz. on Alice.com, and is good for for 32 HE loads ($0.17/each) or 21 regular loads ($0.26/each).

Read more about Kristen’s DIY detergent here. Have you ever tried to make your own laundry soap? How did it work out?

  

  • Betsy

    I have used this same recipe to make my own laundry soap for over a year now. I buy 2 out of 3 ingredients via Alice. However, the recipe I found online calls for using 1 Tablespoon per light load, 2 Tablespoons per large or heavier soiled load. If I used 3 Tablespoons like the OP above, I might feel more confident about using it alone without pre-treaters or boosters.

    The original recipe online http://saf.li/b8zva calls for Zote, a mexican laundry bar soap. It’s a big soft pink bar, 14 oz, or enough for 4 batches of detergent. Zote costs less per ounce than most bar soaps, so I make my detergent for about 5 cents a load. I buy Zote locally, as we have a large hispanic population in my town. It would be nice if you carried Zote, so then I could buy all my ingredients online.

  • http://blog.alice.com Rebecca Thorman

    @ Betsy – Thanks so much for sharing your recipe! If you let support (at) alice [dot] com know of Zote, they will be able to email you if and when we get it on the site. Thanks for the comment!

  • http://betterthanmore.com Cat K

    Hi there! I love this idea, and a good friend of mine has been trying it for a while. We recently switched to Charlie’s Soap (also available on Alice!), and we love it. One thing we love most is that we don’t have to use fabric softener (we were concerned that the dog was having a reaction)… How does this stuff do without softener? What about things that are washed and then line dried?

  • http://www.2makeendsmeet.blogspot.com Queen of the House

    I have made my own laundry detergent quite a few times using a different recipe that lasts even longer, but is more time consuming to make. You can read about it here: http://2makeendsmeet.blogspot.com/2009/12/homemade-laundry-soap.html

    I sometimes feel that it doesn’t get the really grimy clothes clean enough though (we have 3 boys)!

    I like this recipe and would be interested in trying it out! :)

  • ear

    I have been making my own laundry soap for several years now. I make a liquid form though. I can get it down to .03 cents per load. Works great on even the grimiest of clothes, but I do add in some Oxyclean or something similar when I wash whites or they will start to yellow a bit. I add in essential oils of my choice to make it have a great scent. Also make my own dryer sheets with cloth and a hair conditioner of my choice. You can make your own softener like Downy as well. You can’t imagine how much money I have saved on laundry over two years with a house of four teenagers!

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