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I’ve been making homemade laundry soap on and off for over 20 years now. I don’t always make homemade laundry soap, but when I do, this is my favorite recipe. When I buy laundry detergent instead, I wait for a good sale and stack it with a coupon – I rarely pay more than $2 a bottle.
This recipe makes 5 Gallons, it’s easy to make and use. You can cut the recipe in half if you don’t want to make so much.
Homemade Laundry Soap
What you need:
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- Large Saucepan – 4 cups boiling water
- Cheese grater or food processor
- 1 Bar Fels-Naptha soap or approx. 5 oz. Zote Soap, Castile, or Ivory Soap
- 1 cup Arm and Hammer Super washing soda
- 1 cup Borax
- 5-gallon bucket / Hot Water
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INSTRUCTIONS
-Heat 4 cups of water until boiling.
-While the water is heating, grate your preferred bar soap ( use a cheese grater or food processor) and add to the boiling water. Stir continuously over medium/low heat until the soap dissolves and is melted. I have used both Fels-Naptha and the white Zote soap, and they both work well. The Zote soap is softer, easier to cut, and melts faster in boiling water. You can also purchase the Zote soap in flakes, so you don’t have to grate it.
-Fill a 5-gallon bucket half full with HOT tap water, washing soda, and borax, and stir well until all powder is dissolved. Stir in the hot, melted soap mixture.
-Fill the bucket the rest of the way with hot water, stir, cover, and let sit overnight to thicken.
-The next day, it should be lumpy with a partial gel-like consistency; stir well. The finished soap will not be a solid gel. It will be more of a watery gel.
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You can add a few drops of essential oil for scent if you like. Another option is to add 1 cup of Oxi-Clean as a cleaning booster.
Fill old laundry detergent containers, clean milk jugs, or whatever empty containers you prefer.
-Shake well before each use. Use about 1/4 to 1/2 cups per load. Safe for HE Machines. The requirement for HE machines is that it is a low-sudsing, which this is. If you have hard water, you may want to add white vinegar to your rinse cycle. Just add 1/4 cup to your softener cup.
Homemade Laundry Soap
Ingredients
- 4 cups boiling water
- 1 Bar Fels-Naptha soap or approx. 5 oz. Zote Soap, Castile, or Ivory Soap
- 1 cup Arm and Hammer Super washing soda
- 1 cup Borax
- 5-gallon bucket / Hot Water
- essential oil for scent (optional)
Instructions
- Heat 4 cups of water until boiling.
- While the water is heating Grate your Preferred bar soap ( use a cheese grater or food processor) and add to the boiling water. Stir continuously over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
- Fill your 5-gallon bucket half full with HOT tap water, add washing soda, and borax, stir, add melted soap mixture, and stir well until all powder is dissolved.
- Fill the bucket the rest of the way to the top with hot water, stir, cover, and let sit overnight to thicken.
- The next day it should be lumpy with a partial gel-like consistency, Stir well and fill old laundry detergent containers, cleaned milk jugs, or whatever empty containers you prefer. You can add a few drops of essential oil for scent if you like.
- Shake well before each use. Use approx. 1/4 cup per load. If you have hard water you may want to add 1/4 cup white vinegar to your rinse cycle.
- Naturally softens hard water
- Improves cleaning power of detergent
- Safe for both standard and high efficiency machines
- Brightens and deodorizes clothes, bathrooms, kitchens, and more
- Helping you clean for over 100 years
- Add to laundry to help remove tough stains, deodorize and freshen
- Wipe on counters and appliances to remove grease and grime and make dishes sparkling clean
- Removes soap scum, hard water deposits, and dirt
- 20 Mule Team Borax is an amazing, all-natural mineral found in all corners of the globe
- Families have been using Borax for all sorts of things such as cleaning, laundry, preserving flowers, DIY crafting, and more
- Fels Naptha Laundry Soap Bar & Stain Remover
- Jabon Zote Blanco Laundry Flakes All Natural Detergent Soap 17.6oz/500g (Pack of 2)
- One 55 oz box of ARM & HAMMER Super Washing Soda Household Cleaner and Laundry Booster
- 100% fragrance-free and phosphate-free washing soda neutralizes and eliminates odors naturally without the use of heavy fragrances, leaving a long-lasting fresh and neutral clean scent
- As a laundry additive, it improves liquid laundry detergent performance by up to 15% (1), giving you cleaner, whiter and brighter laundry and upholstery (1) For mustard and blood stains vs leading value detergent alone
- Great general purpose cleaner for a wide variety of indoor and outdoor hard surfaces like sinks, stainless steel, bathtubs, garage floors and more, a must-have addition to your household cleaning supplies
- Use as a silver polish to remove tarnish from silver, gold, brass or copper to keep your jewelry, silverware and precious items looking their best
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