Homemade Laundry Soap
Tara Maxfield
1 bar Ivory soap - no scent, no coloring
1/4 bar Fels Naptha
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
Essential Oil
Grate the soaps and put them in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Finally, add your favorite essential oil, I use about 45 drops of tea tree oil but I used lemon and grapefruit too and they work really well. You can obviously use whatever scent you want. The EO will make the soap a more effective cleanser, make the soap more effective at getting rid of bacteria and microbes (not sure about all oils but tea tree has anti bacterial agents in it), and will of course make your laundry smell incredible.
Grate the soaps and put them in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Finally, add your favorite essential oil, I use about 45 drops of tea tree oil but I used lemon and grapefruit too and they work really well. You can obviously use whatever scent you want. The EO will make the soap a more effective cleanser, make the soap more effective at getting rid of bacteria and microbes (not sure about all oils but tea tree has anti bacterial agents in it), and will of course make your laundry smell incredible.
Pour mixture into old detergent bottles and let sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. The finished soap will not be a solid gel. It will be more of a watery gel, with a pearly white color to it. The recipe says you only need about 1/2 cup per load, but I use a little more. I don't think it really matters since this is a VERY low sudsing soap, I just feel like it is extra clean with a bit more.
Suds are not what does the cleaning, it is the ingredients in the soap. From all the research my friends and I did, it appears to be safe and effective in energy efficient machines too because it hardly makes any suds.
Because this recipe includes far less chemical than other laundry soaps, ie, cleaners, dyes, fragrance, you will find it to be great for allergies and sensitive skin, and I feel better about it not being carcinogenic.
We figured it is about $0.01 per load!
I wanted to add that this is my favorite stain removed {thanks to Tara McGown for introducing me to it}. I used to be a 'Shout' fan but this gets out all the nasty baby/toddler/kid stains!
I wanted to add that this is my favorite stain removed {thanks to Tara McGown for introducing me to it}. I used to be a 'Shout' fan but this gets out all the nasty baby/toddler/kid stains!
Thanks for the post. You need to tell us what some of the ingredients are though like where to get them as I have never heard of them. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou can find everything at Wal-mart and even Smiths, except the oils.
ReplyDeleteI have wanted to try this for a long time and never have had the chance. Maybe now I should try it! Where do you get you essential oils.
ReplyDeleteK- this is my project for the next week. I had just put laundry detergent on my shopping list. How many loads does one batch do? How big does the container to put it into need to be?
ReplyDeleteBTW--they now sell teh Zout in a 2-pack at Costco. It is in a blue bottle with a yellow sspay nozzle now :)
ReplyDeleteClarissa - three of us split a batch and we each got about 7 loads.
ReplyDeleteTara - Tara McGown was telling me that the Zout bottle looked different but I picked some up at Smiths the other day and it was red...I am glad to know I can get it at Costco.
Tiffany - you can get some essential oils through a distributer or a whole foods type store. We can get them in Heber at a place called "Apple a Day". There are multi level marketing groups that sell them. I think a starter kit is around $100.00
Just make sure what ever you buy is pure.
Gotta try the ZOUT!! I had given up when they stopped making my fav one... maybe this one will bring me back! Thanks for the tip!!
ReplyDeleteI bought the ingredients to make laundry soap several months ago, after reading your post I finally made it. It works great! Jaleesa sells Doterra essential oils. I got a small bottle of lemon, peppermint, and lavender from her for around $30.
ReplyDeleteHeather- Glad you made some soup! Was it the same recipe? Also glad to know Jaleesa sells Doterra...I might want to get some (and my friends might want to too).
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