Each recipe will make approximately one year worth of laundry soap You may cut the recipes in half (or fourths) if you like. I have made each of these recipes and each seem to clean equally as well, but I wanted to give you options, Decide whether you prefer liquid, powder or gel detergent and try it, you will be happy you did (and so will your pocket book)!
A small tip: If you currently use a commercial laundry soap and love the smell, buy one small bottle and add it into your homemade batch, you will still save money but keep the scent our family likes. :)
If you have questions, just ask. I have tried several recipes over the years and feel these work the best for our family.
ENJOY THE SAVINGS AND KEEP CLEAN! ;)
1) HOMEMADE POWDERED LAUNDRY SOAP (APPROX $10 PER BATCH)
INGREDIENTS:
1 Box 20 Mule Team Borax
1 Box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 Bar Fels Naphtha Soap, grated (or other soap such as Zote or Ivory )
1 Large plastic container with lid (or a few gallon sized Ziploc bags will do)
DIRECTIONS:
Grate one bar soap as fine as you can with a cheese grater or food processor. The soap should be the texture of grated parmesan cheese. Combine the GRATED soap, the ENTIRE box of Borax and the ENTIRE box of Washing Soda into a large container and mix well. Keep covered and away from damp so it does not clump up.
Use 2 tablespoons per load, it should last you all year at a load per day.
2) HOMEMADE LIQUID LAUNDRY SOAP (APPROX $6.00 PER BATCH)
INGREDIENTS:
4 Cups hot water
1 Zote or Feltz Naphtha soap bar (OR 2 regular Ivory bars.)
1 Cup Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
½ Cup Borax
5 gallon bucket
Empty Laundry Soap Dispenser's (or any plastic container you like, I use empty 2 liter soda bottles)
DIRECTIONS:
Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken. The next day,stir the mixture and fill each container half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. The mixture will separate some as it sits, shake well before each use.
This recipe makes 10 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 1/2 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- 1/4 Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)
3) HOMEMADE GEL LAUNDRY SOAP (APPROX. $7 PER BATCH)
INGREDIENTS:
4 Cups hot water
1 Zote or Feltz Naphtha soap bar (OR 2 regular Ivory bars.)
1 Cup Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
½ Cup Borax
4 TB Liquid Glycerin
TWO 5 gallon buckets
DIRECTIONS:
Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.Fill BOTH 5 gallon buckets half full of hot tap water. Add 2 TBS Liquid Glycerin to each bucket. Add HALF of the melted soap, washing soda and Borax to each bucket. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill buckets to top with more hot water and stir well. The mixture will gel overnight.
The advantage of gel detergent is it will not separate so there is no need for shaking the container before use. Since it is thinker and harder to pour, I suggest keeping the mixture in the 5 gallon containers and simply scooping it out of the buckets instead of transferring it into smaller containers.
This recipe makes 10 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 1/2 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- 1/4 Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)
