I have tested my first laundry detergent recipe, and I seem to have lucked out and found an easy to make laundry detergent that cleans well and leaves clothes and cloth diapers fresh. I’m thinking of this like buying the first dress you try on in a store. If you like it, just buy it. You can try on all the other dresses and none of them will fit like the first. Let me know how this detergent works for you, will you? I have slightly hard water, and I would love to hear how this works for everyone with all different kinds of water and washers. Maybe we can perfect it together.
So, how do you make homemade laundry detergent?
Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe
- 2 cups grated Dr. Bronner’s castile soap bar (1 bar)
- 1 cup washing soda
- 1 cup Borax
That’s it. I swear. If you buy peppermint or lavender Dr. Bronner’s you have scented detergent right off the line. My only issue grating up the soap was that the littlest grater holes on my cheese grater don’t seem to work well, so I used the slightly larger holes, which makes for a more textured detergent. This is perfectly fine for warm to hot loads of laundry, but the cold setting doesn’t dissolve my castile soap gratings, leaving little bits of soap on delicates. So if you can stand it, grate with the smallest grater holes or find another way to pulverize the soap bar.
Borax and washing soda are products you can find in most supermarket laundry aisles, for just a few bucks a box. So, with each batch of soap costing about $3-4 to make and lasting for about a month, I’m thinking this recipe is a winner. I could buy ingredients in bulk to mass produce this (theoretically) at an even lower cost, making this a very efficient way to make detergent. And I LOVE the natural peppermint smell of my detergent. I suspect the natural peppermint oil in this is also helping freshen my laundry and washer.
Do You Have a Recipe Request for 29 Diapers?
I’m working on a homemade deoderant (not quite there yet: I’ve got a workable formula for deoderizing but it chafes, ouch!), and other household cleaner recipes. Do you have a cleaning solution you would like to replace with a homemade, natural alternative? Or maybe a personal care product? Let me know in comments or on Facebook, and I’ll add it to my list of recipes to test.
I replaced all my cleaners with the Norwex Enviro-cloth and shine cloth. I used to make vinegar solutions and it left streaks and I was always spending time measuring and storing. Like cloth diapers Norwex cloths are an up front investment, but you no longer use consumable products and it cleans better than ANYTHING! 100% chemical free and about as enviro-friendly as it gets! Google it and you can find lots of information about it!
I heard that soap can ruin the fibers in cloth diapers. I use a similar homemade detergent for all my other clothes that I made almost a year ago and I’m just finishing it up (I used Ivory soap as it was a test and so I just used a soap I had on hand) So is it ok with Castile soap?
How much do you put in per large load?
Just be careful… most diaper manufactures say no borax or it will void your warranty. I called most of the big ones and all of them said NO borax.
I really WANT to believe that this would work! Maybe I’ll have to try it when we run out of Rockin Green!
A friend of mine made a special batch for me for Christmas last year (AND I’M STILL USING IT!!!) and it works great.
I love in the U.P. of Michigan so I have that in-between water and I have a top loader (energy saver) washer. This soap dissolves with no problems and works great on all types of clothes leaving them clean and smelling just like a store purchased detergent.
With cloth diapers, I still use a cloth diaper safe detergent mostly because it does leave a bit of a “residue” on them after a few weeks (the diapers begin to leak then I would have to funk a soak with Funk Rock). I wouldn’t (with my type of water) use it ALL the time with cloth diapers but like I said~it works awesome on EVERYTHING else. Even using it as a paste on carpet messes…it’s a very versatile cleaner that lasts a VERY long time…I still have half of the mixture left….lol =D
Here’s the “recipe”:
Ingredients
16 cups baking soda
12 cups borax
8 cups grated castile or glycerin soap flakes
3 tablespoons lavender, lemon, or grapefruit essential oil
*Use 1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) per load*
I also make my own laundry detergent, but I have not braved to put it on my diapers. The recipe includes:
1 14 oz bar of pink Zote soap
1 c washing soda
1 c borax
I put the washing soda and borax in a 1/2 full 5 gallon bucket. Next, grate the soap, melt it in a pot of hot water, and add the mixture in the bucket. Finish filling the bucket with water. I gradually fill an old detergent bottle and use that when washing.
This recipe is very similar to yours, but liquid. Also, the Zote is difficult to find, but sometimes it can be found at WalMart or Big Lots.
Thanks for sharing your recipe also.
I use this recipe for our laundry, also! I love using the lavender Dr. Bronners, but want to try the others, too.
I couldn’t find anywhere if Dr Bronners is cloth diaper safe. I am afraid of buildup. Anyone know?
This looks great! I would love to try it. Is it really cloth diaper safe?
Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe
{This recipe is for high efficiency washers as well as regular – you’d use the same
amount in the HE washer as a regular washer}
(All was found in laundry aisle, try Ace too!)
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or Ivory
½ cup washing soda (not to be confused with baking soda-this is in the laundry aisle)
½ cup borax powder
Supplies:
You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size, a sauce pan, and cheese grater.
Directions:
Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts.
Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4
cups hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6
cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ cup per
load.
The finished soap will not be a solid gel. It will be more of a watery gel that has been
accurately described as an “egg noodle soup” look.
Storage:
This makes about 2 gallons worth, have an older laundry detergent bottle (or two one-gallon juice bottles) ready!
Optional: You can add ½ teaspoon essential oil if you like for fragrance or a 1 cup of your
favorite fabric softener. Or, a cup of Oxy Clean as an additional booster. (I add Dr. Bronner’s liquid castille soap, about 1/4 cup)
I use basically the same recipe, but instead of the Dr. B’s soap, I used grated Fels Naptha. one trick I learned, is after grating, let the soap dry for a few days, then put it into a blender/food processor. It will then get be in small granule size like the borax and washing soda. You can also take a cup of hot water, dissolve your soap for that load of laundry, and dump it into the cold wash.
the peppermint doesn’t hurt the diapers?
I used this exact recipe (substituting the dr bonners for fels napantha, all I could find) only I made it a liquid soap. You boil the soap shaving in water on the stove until they dissolve and then use a 5 gallon bucket to fill with warm water and add the melted soap to it. Mix in the borax and washing soda. That’s it! Mine turned into a solid gel mass a few times, have to mash it up with my hands a bit. But it works great and the gel bits dissolve in the wash no matter what anyway. I keep some in an old cleaned out liquid detergent bottle so I don’t have to dip into the 5 gallon every time. I think this will last more than a month as well and I do like 10 loads a week sometimes! Wish I’d known about this recipe my whole life
Could you use any kind of Dr Bronners? There seem to be a million different kinds/scents!
I have been using this type of detergent for a few months now. I have an HE front loader. I use 1 bar of ivory soap instead of the dr. bronners. It is cheaper and so far is doing a great job. I think when I calculated the cost it was about $.01 per load if I remember right.
How much do you use per load??
I have been using 1 T per load, or a little more for extra soiled loads. I am aware that the Dr. Bronner’s may build up over time, but I suspect Ivory or any other soap would be even worse, and so far this seems to clean better than any other green detergent I have tried. Diaper makers seem to disagree on whether you should use borax or bleach on your diapers ever (or even vinegar), but if you diaper long enough, you need to find something to truly clean your dipes, and for the moment this is working great for us. I suspect the key may be to switch back and forth between this and Allen’s Naturally to keep the stash clean longterm. I’ll let you know! And thanks for all the liquid detergent recipes!
I use the diaper detergent on our website. It’s 1 cup borax, 1 cup washing soda, and 1/2 cup Oxiclean.
I haven’t had any problems at all with it, and neither has my SIL!