Homemade powdered laundry soap works great with warm and hot loads of laundry, but what about cold loads? You have two options. Blend 1 tablespoon of powder with warm water and dissolve ahead of time, or make this DIY liquid laundry detergent recipe for use in all temperatures. (Find my powdered recipe here.)
Both the powdered and the liquid recipes call for a natural soap. I prefer old-fashioned soap made with lard. See Just So’s Laundry Soap with EMs. Other suggested brands include Kirk’s and Dr. Bronner’s.
This liquid soap recipe is suitable for hot, warm, cold and delicate loads of laundry. Safe for HE machines!
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Ingredients
- 1 oz. natural soap (1/4 bar if using 4 oz. bar.)
- 3 c. boiling water
- 1/4 c. washing soda
- 1/4 c. borax
- 10 c. water *
- * Some recipes allow for more dilution. Feel free to add more than 10 c. water.
Instructions
- Stir until dissolved.
- Pour into a one-gallon container
- Add the 10 cups water.
- Stir.
- Let sit for 24 hours until the mixture thickens to almost a gel.
- Use 1/4 cup liquid soap for each load.
- *This liquid soap may separate. Simply stir or shake before each use.
Did you know you can make your own washing soda? All you need is baking soda and an oven! Check out DIY Washing Soda.
Concerned about the possible toxicity of borax? See Borax: Friend or Foe?
Regardless of which recipe you choose, you’ll love saving time and money with this natural approach to laundry!
Andrea- I forgot to ask you how you use the laundry bar I ordered ??
Mary,
Grate the bar and combine with 1 cup borax and 1 cup washing soda. That will be your powdered laundry soap. Use 1 tbls. per load.
You can also grate the bar and pour 4 cups hot water and stir to dissolve. Add 1/2 cup borax and 1/2 cup washing soda and stir to dissolve. This is the liquid version of the above and is good for cold loads.
is it a total of 10 c. of water or 20?thank you for the homemade laundry soap recipe
I am just a little confused about the amount of water
Thanks for the question! You’re right it’s confusing. You add the 10 cups after the other ingredients are dissolved. It works out to be about 13 cups or so. You can easily make it 20 cups. I will change the post to make this all clearer. Thanks again!
I made a bucket of liquid laundry detergent, and I apparently didn’t do it correctly, I have made it several times with no problems, but because I had ground the soap into a powder I put it in the bucket with hot water to disolve then the powered ingred, the powder solidified on bottom and top and just liquid in the middle. Any ideas on how to fix it? I make a whole bucket at a time, whole box of borax, AH Cleaning Soap and 2 bars of Felts-Neptha ground/grated and water to fill bucket after disolving. Normally works but this time not even close..
Reheat it all or better easier idea?
Barbara,
Well the good news is it’s always fixable with these ingredients. Can you add more boiling water – enough to dissolve some of the solids? Or can you add some white vinegar to dissolve? Certainly heating it and shaking it will get it back.
I LOVE your website! So beautiful!!
Thank you, Amber!
Is there anyway to use a liquid soap instead of grating a bar? Or did you mean melt the bar of soap. Also doesn’t the soap solidify after it cools?
Hi Debi. It doesn’t solidify if you dilute it according to the recipe. I find that if I don’t add enough water it solidifies – in that case I add more boiling water and it’s fine. You can try it with liquid castile soap. It should work fine. You might have to tweak it to get the right consistency. It’s all trial and error so you should be fine either way.
Just made the laundry detergent and boy did it thicken…had to add quite a bit of water and run a blender in it to get it to blend up. What brand of natural bar soap did you use? I saw some soap flakes at Wal-Mart, but wasn’t’t sure about it. I would definitely dissolve quicker than what I did. Also a half of cup seems like a lot. I’ve been using a more natural brand and only used an eighth of a cup. THANKS for your help.
I use momsAWARE’s and Just So Natural’s Signature castile soap. Or I use the EM laundry soap bar found at both sites. I’ll have to check out the soap flakes at Wal-Mart! I agree, 1/2 cup really is not necessary. I changed the post! I’m not sure why yours did not dilute well. I imagine some soaps need more water than others to get it to soften. Thanks for the question!
I think I misread the instructions and thought I was to put everything in boiling water and continue boiling it while I stirred, which probably made it thicken so much more….lesson learned.
It could be. Lots of trial and error, Lois. Thanks for the feedback. I hope it turns out better next time!
Hi Andrea,
I’m wondering if you’ve ever added essential oils for aromatic purposes?
Thanks,
Darlene
I have, but I’ve found they don’t really make it through the entire process. Peppermint may hold on for a bit longer. I prefer to spritz essential oil on the clothing before the dryer cycle. Even that doesn’t necessarily make it through. Thanks for raising that question, Darlene.
Can you use this in a high efficiency washer?
Yes, absolutely. It’s very low suds, which is ideal for HE machines.