How to Make Homemade Laundry Soap

Posted on 08. May, 2010 by Tonia in Itty Vids, Roost

Last week Cheri shared with us a list of things she is doing to reduce her impact on the environment.  I decided we would try each of the things on her list, and show you all how to do them as well.  First on the docket is how to make homemade laundry soap.

This is such a great thing to do, the main reason being because store-bought laundry detergents have scary ingredients, including quaternary ammonium sodium carbonate, sodium alkyl benzene sulfonate, sodium silicate, bleach, and some phosphates.  {The fact that my spell-checker thinks that half of those are not real words tells me that they certainly shouldn’t be going into our ground water by the gallons day after day.}  And buying the eco-friendly detergents is really expensive…so, let’s get right to it, shall we!

Itty Bird iconIngredients:

2 cups finely grated soap {preferably Ivory or Ivory Snow}
1 cup washing soda
1 cup borax

Itty Bird iconSteps:

1. Mix well and store in an airtight container.

2. Use a 1/2 cup for a full load, less for smaller loads.

{Regarding High Efficiency (HE) and Front-Load Washers:  You may have been told you need to use “special soap” for your HE or front-load washing machine.  This is because they use less water, so they require soap that is less sudsy. The good news is, the homemade detergent in this recipe is VERY low suds. Just make sure you use the recommended amount of detergent.}

Tags: , , ,

6 Responses to “How to Make Homemade Laundry Soap”

  1. Cheri’s List | Itty Bitty Impact

    08. May, 2010

    [...] I make my own laundry detergent [...]

  2. Terry

    10. May, 2010

    I can’t wait to make this myself! Have you used it yet? How do you find that it cleans? Do you notice any undissolved soap leftover in the wash?

  3. We Live Simply link love | we live simply :: learning to live simply so others may simply live

    14. May, 2010

    [...] :: How to Make Homemade Laundry Soap Homemade Cleaning Solutions 20 great reasons to get rid of clutter Save Money with a Supply [...]

  4. beth

    20. May, 2010

    oh, good lord. You are adorable. This video is adorable. That headscarf is adorable. Love it ALL!

    So, I dug out my much loved copy of Raleigh Brigg’s Make Your Place book, and flipped to the laundry section. She has a variation on Cheri’s laundry soap recipe, and mentions that you can scent your soap with a few drops of essential oil… bonus!

    Also, she has a great recipe for fabric softener pouches that I’m dying to make a video of for you to add to your collection of adorable videos. mmm? Maybe I can even find a headscarf of my own…

  5. Heather

    23. Jul, 2010

    Hi Tonia! I just found your blog via ‘Going Home to Roost’. I wanted to tell you that I have been using the same laundry detergent recipie in your post for over a year now and it works wonderfully. It has saved my family an insane amount of money as well as lowering our environmental impact.

  6. Tonia

    23. Jul, 2010

    Hi Heather, thanks for visiting!! It’s great to hear from someone else who uses this detergent! I think some people are skeptical about whethor or not it will really actually clean clothes just as well as store-bought stuff. My personal feeling is that my clothes actually feel fresher after I switched to the homemade stuff! I think a good tip is to not use too much soap…too much soap leaves clothes feeling stiff. And remember to line-dry your clothes if you can, too! :)

Leave a Reply