I have been wanting to try this for a long time. It is really easy and can save you money on your laundry soap costs. I used the recipe and directions from this site. At the end of this post I’ll include links to some other recipes too.
I didn’t buy soap (cleansing bar) from the store. I used Bar Wench because it is the plainest soap I have right now. In the future I might make a different bar soap to do double duty as laundry soap. If you are going to buy a cleansing bar from the store I suggest getting something white & without any added dyes that may cling to your clothes. I don’t know that it really makes a difference, but why risk it?
Grated Bar Wench Soap
I grated the soap in my food processor, but you can grate it by hand if you need too.
The Other Ingredients
I bought the borax and washing soda from the grocery store. They were in the laundry isle. I’ve read some recipes that also include baking soda and Oxyclean. These are optional.
All Mixed Together
After the bar soap had dissolved, I added the borax and washing soda. The mixture will thicken up.
Full Bucket of Laundry Soap
This is a lot of laundry soap! It has to sit for 24 hours, but I didn’t wait quite that long before washing my first load of laundry with it. My batch is a little watery. So either I put too much water in or I didn’t add the full cup of washing soda. I was using a half cup to measure out things and it is quite possible I only added 1 instead of two. lol. It also could be that it hadn’t set for a full 24 hrs.
This was so easy to do. I can’t wait to see how it works. I have only heard good things from others who have tried it.
Here are those links I promised:
No-Grate Homemade Laundry Soap- Uses dish detergent
Homemade Laundry Soap- Uses castile soap and adds backing soda
I haven’t tried either of these.
If you try making your own laundry soap leave a comment about your experience. I would love to hear how you made it and how it worked for you.
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