How to Make Liquid Laundry Detergent

This easy recipe will save you at least 90% when compared to store-bought detergent! And when using this detergent, there's no need to add fabric softener.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 5 gallon bucket with lid
• 12 cups water
• 2/3 bar Fels Naptha laundry soap
• 1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
• 1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
• 8 cups hot (not boiling) water
• hot tap water
• grater and container to catch gratings
• large cooking spoon

1. Grate 2/3 Fels Naptha bar. Be careful not to cut yourself on the grater!

2. Mix all of the grated Fels Naptha with 12 cups water in a large pot; heat on the stove over low heat stirring occasionally until dissolved.
   
   Do NOT allow to boil.

3. Stir in 20 Mule Team Borax and Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda until thickened.

4. Add 8 cups hot water (tap water will do if hot enough) to the 5 gallon bucket.

5. To that, add the soap mixture and stir well.

6. Add hot tap water to your mixture until the bucket is about 2/3 full. (I haven't done the math, but I believe this should make about 4 gallons.)

7. Let the mixture sit with the lid on for 24 hours until thickened. The mixture may be slightly chunky and it will be more runny than you're used to with store-bought detergent, but that's fine. Stir or shake bucket before each use.

8. If desired, fill an old laundry detergent bottle for convenience.

Tips & Warnings

• Fels Naptha is a bar of soap used for laundering clothes. It's also great for scrubbing bug bites!
• You can find Fels Naptha, Borax and Washing Soda at your grocery store in the laundry aisle.
• A 5 gallon bucket can be purchased at any hardware store.
• You can cut the recipe in half if desired. I do about 5 loads of laundry per week and a regular batch lasts me months!
• You can reduce the amount of water used in this recipe and use the mixture as a stain remover.
• Be careful not to cut yourself when using the grater.
• Always use caution when using a stove or hot water.

Resources

• Soaps Gone Buy

[MSheiko]

on 5/1/2009 Also, I know two women who use this in their HE washers and it works just fine!

[goldiec]

on 4/18/2009 Thanks for sharing this article on making liquid laundry soap!

[MSheiko]

on 7/6/2008 You use about the same amount of this recipe as store-bought detergent; it is not concentrated. However, I'm sure you could put half the amount of water in and make it concentrated. I'll have to try it next time and see how it works!

Also, it's more watery than store-bought detergent, but I'm guessing it would be thicker if you cut the water amount in half.

I've never known anyone to have any skin irritation from it. My friend uses this recipe, as well as her parents. We use it and so do my parents.

By the way, I really dislike the smell of Fels Naptha, but the laundrey never smells like it. It doesn't really smell at all, actually. Some people might dislike that fact; we're so used to perfumes in our detergents and fabric softeners. But they really are not good for us. That is what causes most skin irritation and other issues.