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Homemade Natural Laundry Soap Video Tutorial

February 17, 2011 By 44 Comments

Making your own laundry soap is so easy and inexpensive that I encourage everyone to try it! Even if you aren’t concerned about the health benefits of switching to a more natural detergent, this recipe will save money and time! Once you have the ingredients, it takes about 20 minutes total to make five gallons of laundry soap, enough for months for most families!


This was my cost breakdown: Total Cost for Ingredients was $4.30 and at 1/2 cup per load, one batch would wash 160 loads. That works out to a little less than $0.03 per load! By comparison, the cheapest I have found any semi-natural store bought detergents breaks down to about $0.20 or $0.25 cents per load. A natural substitute at a savings of $0.17 cents or more per load!

Ingredients for Homemade Natural Liquid Laundry Soap:

  • 1 cup Borax (sodium borate) found as 20 Mule Team Borax on laundry aisle of most grocery stores
  • 1 cup Washing Soda (sodium carbonate or soda ash) is available on the laundry aisle of most grocery stores
  • A bar of natural and organic bar soap like Dr. Bronners, or homemade soap

Optional Ingredients:

  • Sal Suds (new product from Dr. Bronners- a good grease cutter)
  • Liquid Castille soap for extra cleaning power and scent
  • Essential Oils for scent

To make Homemade Natural Liquid Laundry Detergent (Environmentally Friendly)

  1. Ask your local bakery, Sam’s Club/Costco or grocery store for any leftover five gallon buckets with lids. They will give these to you for free.
  2. Grate the bar soap with a cheese grater or food processor.
  3. Put 4-4.5 gallons of warm or hot water into a five gallon bucket
  4. In a medium sized sauce pan, heat 2 quarts of water until simmering.
  5. Pour grated soap in and slow slowly until dissolved
  6. Pour hot soap mixture into the five gallon bucket and stir well.
  7. Add optional ingredients if you plan to and stir well.
  8. Put lid on tightly and keep in corner overnight.
  9. The next day, remove lid and stir again.
  10. Pour into empty gallon jars or bottles and store by washer.
  11. Use 1/2 to 1 cup per load, depending on how dirty the clothes are.

Important Note: I have heard people express some concern with the use of Borax. Borax is an ingredient in most natural and eco-friendly cleaners, including Seventh Generation and Biokleen, so it is difficult to find any product without it. Though it can be toxic in high doses, especially if ingested, in the dilution used in this recipe, it appears to have little or no health risks. If you are concerned with the use of Borax and prefer not to use it, use an extra 1/2 cup of washing soda or 1 cup of baking soda in its place. You could also substitute 1 cup of Liquid Castille soap.

Does Natural Laundry Soap Work?

In my experience, this laundry soap works better than store bought detergents (which aren’t even actually soaps at all but mixtures of chemicals!). This soap does not have a distinct smell like many conventional laundry soaps, though you can scent it with essential oils if you like. I use this as a pre-treatment for stains also, and it works well when pre-treated for up to 1 week.

Try it out and let me know if it works for you! What is your laundry secret? Tell me about it below!

Homemade Natural Effective Laundry Soap Recipe Homemade Natural Laundry Soap Video Tutorial

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About Wellness Mama

Wellness Mama is a full-time housewife with a background in nutrition, journalism and communications. Her passion is helping others achieve optimal health through a “Wellness Lifestyle.” She has helped hundreds of clients lose weight, increase athletic performance, improve fertility, and overcome numerous health problems and diseases.

  • http://the-charbas.blogspot.com Audrey

    Neat! Have you used this on cloth diapers?

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    It seems to work great on cloth diapers, I’ve never had any trouble at all and they come out clean and fresh!

  • Cathy

    How much Borax and Laundry Soda do you use?

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    Sorry… just added that- one cup of each!

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    I’ve read stuff on both sides of this issue too. There is actually a link to the safety info on Borax above. In my opinion, it is safer than bleach and other ingredients in conventional cleaners, but certainly precautions should be taken, especially when using it around children. Thanks for the comment!

  • Barbie Shannon Wood

    concerning the natural laundry detergent…..Borax is from Boric acid and it is not a safe thing to have around the house. It is not a “green” product, even though it is marketed that way. I just learned this myself….look into it.

  • Andrea

    Can this be used in a front loader washer?

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    From what I understand, front loading and high efficiency washers just need a non-foaming, or low-foaming detergent or soap since the suds can prevent clothes from getting clean and can harm the machine. I don’t have a front loader personally, but I know several moms of big families that use this recipe with front loading washers, and in researching it, everything seemed to indicate that this recipe would be fine since it doesn’t foam. There was even a tutorial on one site that showed how to make your own high efficiency soap with essentially the same ingredients, so I’d think it would be fine.

  • Kilty

    Sorry, I may be missing it, but when in the numerical order do you add the borax and washing soda? Or are the lumped into the #7 “add optional ingredients”? Thanks!

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    Sorry, I’ll try to add that. They go into the hot water in the bucket before you put the soap in.

  • Virginiacwills

    trying this tonight! but there are still a few steps missing in the recipe…

  • http://www.kleendrybh.com Tile Cleaning Boca Raton

    Thank you for sharing with us,I too always learn something new from your post!

    Great article. I wish I could write so well.

  • Desiree

    Tried this and it turned to gel. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    Could just be the soap you are using. It will actually still work and
    be stronger as a gel. I usually use a hand blender to make it smooth
    though and then pour if possible, or scoop into laundry.

  • Desiree

    I think you may be right about the soap. We’ve discovered a new love for borax though!

  • http://profiles.google.com/skydisco3 Sarah Smith

    I’m excited to try this recipe!  I was just thinking about trying to find a cheaper alternative to the Seventh Gen laundry detergent we’ve been using.  And then I randomly stumbled upon your site.

  • http://twitter.com/saxbabe Maria V. Arnold

     This sounds like a great alternative to what I have been using that is almost gone. One question though, we have one of those high efficiency washers that is supposed to only have detergents marked as HE. Do you know if this would qualify?

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    I don’t have a HE washer, but several readers who do have commented
    that they have used it with no problem. You might be able to us a
    little less though.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kitty-Felton/1631227737 Kitty Felton

    there are bar soaps weighing 3 oz, and bar soaps weighing 7 or 8 oz.  how much soap by weight, do you use in this?

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    It is much more of an art than a science :-) I think the bars I use
    are 3-4 ounces, though bigger bars would just make a thicker laundry
    soap.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_RRTHNTLY7U4HRJGRORBKN7EFFM Swallick

    I made my laundry soap yesterday and used it today.  My soap is very, very thin.  Not sure why.  I used the exact amount and brands mentioned in the post.  I washed a load of cloth diapers this morning and they seem to be just as clean if not cleaner than when I was using my store bought detergent, so I guess it’s working! It’s just hard to get over the paradigm (like it is with most natural, holistic things :) of laundry detergent being viscous and creating lots of suds.

  • Kristina

    I can’t wait to try this! Cost savings? YES please! I’ve, through coupons, gotten detergent for around $7 for that many loads, and that’s (good) commercial cleanser but I have no doubt I’d like this more. I recently bought some washing soda to add to loads and have gotten great results, so just making it all from scratch is going to be exciting! Also want to try making toothpaste and a ton of other things you’ve got on here. !!!

  • M. Smith

    Katie,
    I make my own detergent using your first 3 ingredients: bar soap, borax, and washing soda. I don’t have room for a 5 gallon bucket of liquid soap! i put the powdered soap in a sealed container (like a pretty jar or an old yogurt container)and just use 1 tbsp per load. Works great!

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    I’ve made that kind too and it does work great! For me, my homemade
    soap doesn’t powder well, so its easier to use as a liquid, but I do
    like the powdered version too.

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    It is definitely thinner than store bought, but like you said, it
    works better. you can always add more bar soap in future batches if
    you want a thicker soap, just make sure to use a little less of the
    finished soap per load.

  • Nora

    Have any of you added essential oils or Liquid Castille Soap for scent?  If so, what measurements have you used, and what scents?  I’d like to have nicely scented laundry soap, but I’d rather learn from your experiences than risk botching it on my own!  Thank you!

  • Savannah

    I almost bought the sal suds a few days ago, but then saw that it contains sls. I was disappointed.

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    it does, but it is coconut derived, not petroleum derived like commercial soaps so it is a different chemical composition and pH
    and is much gentler.

  • Busymom

    Can you use goats milk soap like they sell in Whole Foods?

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    I’m not completely sure the ingredients, but i would think so

  • Joyce

    I was thinking about substituting the baking soda for the borax.  Have you tried that?  Do the clothes come out as clean?  I’m thinking they would, but was just wondering.  I have children and we deal with allergies and asthma.  I am looking for the safest way, but want clean clothes!  Thanks!

  • Jaime Haak

    Why bar soap instead of just liquid castille? Liquid would be a lot less work…

  • Ashley Sidell

    A few questions:1.  How much Sal Suds are used?  2.  Is it possible to make this into a “concentrate” using less water, therefor using less product?  I am trying to find a good cloth diaper “stripper” that is more natural than say… Dawn. <—Ick!  Thanks!

  • Wraywilliford

    Have been using baking soda for cleaning sinks and bathtubs for couple years now and it works good or better than store bought cleansers.

  • Rebekah Huling

    Hi!

    I made this recipe recently and the consistancy of the detergent didn’t turn out as I expected.  In your picture, it looks kind of creamy.  The consistancy of mine was like water with chunks of clear jelly.  I still used it in my luandry and it worked fine.  I just want to make sure I’m following the recipe correctly.  Any suggestions??

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    That’s definitely normal… mine sometimes does that too… I think it depends partially on temperature. Sometimes I use an immersion blender to smooth it out, but no need to at all.

  • Rebekah Huling

    Ok thanks!

    I also wanted to ask you about using the Dr Bronner’s liquid castile soap… Can you use it in adition to the Dr. Bronner’s bar of soap?  How much would you use? And when would you add it?

  • http://twitter.com/dracam dracam

    I was also wondering about using dr.bonners liquid. I have that in the house already. Does it work as well and how much would I use?

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    It does work, and you’d use about 1/2 cup of the liquid in place of each bar. It won’t be as thick or gel-like, but it works. Katie

  • Scott Capurso

    Can these be used with low water effiecient washers? We always use concentrated tide liquid. Dont want to wreck my new washer.

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    In a HE washer, you should just be able to use half the amount. It is low-suds, so it shouldn’t cause a problem with the washer.

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  • Cjnorman5

    I’m going to make this and Im still kind of confused when to add the borax and washing soda? Can I put them in the hot water with the bar soap or just put them in the bucket and pour soap and water in? Thank You

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    I need to update this :-) Just add them to the hot water in the bucket, mix them well, and add the melted bar soap…