Homemade laundry soap? You bet!
We've been using this formula since 2010 and we're crazy about it. It's affordable, safe, and so easy to make that my kids can do it.
Since I originally share this tutorial back in 2011 I've made some tweaks, so grab your cheese grater and a bar of your favorite natural soap and let's get to work.
In my business we make a lot of soap.
A lot.
One of our cornerstone body care products, we sell thousands of bars each year and ever batch we make results some trims or damaged bars. We began selling the scratch and dent soaps years ago and found that many of your customers were snatching them up for making homemade laundry soap.
We couldn't resist trying it ourselves, and set to work experimenting with our own recipe.
Why use natural soaps for homemade laundry soap? Because what goes into your soap goes onto your clothes. And therefore onto your skin.
While my soaps are made with organic oils, essential oils, minerals, and herbs, most of what is sold as bar "soap" today - as well as most laundry "soap" - is actually synthetic detergent and synthetic fragrance oils. By making your own laundry soap out of good quality bar soap you can avoid putting those chemicals into your laundry. And I think that's worth a bit of extra effort.
In addition to soap you need only four additional ingredients to create homemade laundry soap.
All can be found at your local grocery store:
- baking soda
- borax
- oxygen bleach and
- washing soda
Baking soda is a natural odor remover, and borax softens water. Oxygen bleach boosts the stain-removal power of he recipe and the washing soda is chemically similar to baking soda but is a much stronger base (high pH) and helps neutralize the natural moisturizers found in soap.
Two thoughts before we begin regarding soap selection:
- Any of the soaps I make are laundry friendly. If you opt for another brand, select soaps that do not contain synthetic colorants or large bits of ground herbs. (The colorful bars shown above are colored mineral pigment colors that won't leach onto clothing.)
- If you are mixing different soap varieties choose scents that harmonize with each other. (We used a lavender soap and a eucalyptus bar.)
DIY Laundry Soap Recipe
Materials and Equipment:
1/2 C Baking Soda
1 C Borax
1 1/3 C Washing Soda
Essential Oils (optional)
Box grater or electric grater
Food processor (optional)
Non-plastic mixing bowl
Non-plastic mixing spoon
Jar, for storing laundry soap
Instructions:
Grate soap on the fine side of a box grater or process through your food processor fitted with the fine grater blade. Go for the finest shreds possible as they will dissolve easily in your washing machine. (Note: 4 ounces of well-cured soap will make approximately 2 C of grated soap.) If desired you may process the grated soap a second time in your food processor for an even finer powder.
Measure grated soap into mixing bowl. Add additional ingredients and stir well to combine. Check scent. If desired add additional essential oils to boost the scent of your soap (a few drops is plenty). Transfer to storage jar. That's it! Shake jar occasionally to keep powder from separating from soap if your gratings (like mine) are medium size. Use two to three Tb. per load, and add a splash of vinegar to your washer in the fabric softener cup for your freshest, cleanest clothes yet.
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And just for fun, if you are buying LüSa Organics soap from my website from your laundry soap project, leave a comment of "laundry day" on your order and I'll add a sample-sized product to your order when we ship! One time use per customer, please. xo
