How to Make Natural Laundry Soap With Washing Soda & Borax

While many different forms of commercial laundry detergent exist, they can be quite expensive. In addition, if you stop to read the ingredients list on commercial laundry products, you will often find that they include additives, such as phosphorus, that can be less than eco-friendly. As an alternative, you can make your own natural laundry soap that will prove more economical and forgo potentially harmful additives.

Things You'll Need

• 2 cups Ivory, Fels-Naptha, Sunlight or Castile bar soap
• Cheese grater
• Container
• 1 cup washing soda
• 1 cup Borax
• Airtight container
• Large pot
• 3 pt. water
• 1/3 bar soap (grated)
• 1/2 cup washing soda
• 1/2 cup Borax
• 2 gallon bucket
• 1 qt. hot water
• Spoon
• Cold water

Instructions

Powdered Version

1. Finely grate 2 cups of bar soap into a container by sliding the end of the bar of soap over a fine cheese grater.

2. Pour 1 cup of washing soda and 1 cup of Borax into an airtight container. Add the 2 cups of finely grated bar soap and mix with a spoon to combine the ingredients.

3. Close the lid tightly on the container. Add 2 tbsp. of the homemade laundry soap to each full load of laundry.

Liquid Version

1. Pour 3 pints of water into a large pot and heat. Grate 1/3 of a bar of soap into a container. Add the grated soap to the heated water and stir with a spoon until melted.

2. Add 1/2 cup of washing soda and 1/2 cup of Borax. Stir the mixture with a spoon until all of the washing soda and Borax are dissolved into the heated liquid. Remove the pot from the heat.

3. Pour 1 quart of hot water into a 2 gallon bucket. Add the heated soap mixture to the bucket. Fill the remainder of the bucket with cold water. Stir with a spoon to mix.

4. Stir the laundry soap mixture with a spoon before each use because it will develop a gel-like texture. Add 1/2 cup of the natural laundry soap to each full load.

Tips & Warnings

• Wash and rinse out the inside of old laundry detergent bottles and use them for storage of your homemade soap.

• Reduce the amounts of each ingredient proportionately to make smaller quantities of the natural laundry soap.

• Avoid using heavily perfumed bar soaps for these recipes.

References

• Tip Nut: 10 Homemade Laundry Soap Detergent Recipes