How to Make Your Own Powdered Laundry Soap Using Fels-Naptha

Save money and treat stains with homemade laundry soap.

Fels-Naptha is a brand of laundry bar soap designed for pre-treating stained clothing. The manufacturer's website recommends rubbing stains directly with a dampened bar of soap or grating it into a basin of hot water to pre-soak clothing. However, you can also use grated Fels-Naptha, combined with a couple of other ingredients, to mix your own powdered laundry soap. Proponents of homemade laundry soap say it works just as well as regular laundry detergents for a considerably lower cost.

Things You'll Need

• Fels-Naptha soap
• Washing soda
• Borax
• Cheese grater
• Measuring cups
• Airtight plastic containers

Instructions

1. Grate the entire bar of Fels-Naptha soap into a plastic container using a fine cheese grater.

2. Measure 2 cups of the grated soap into a second airtight plastic container. Put the lid the container with the grated soap and store it for the next time you need to make a batch of laundry detergent.

3. Add 1 cup of washing soda and 1 cup of borax to the 2 cups of grated soap.

4. Put the lid on the container to seal it, then shake the sealed container vigorously to mix the three ingredients.

5. Use about 2 tbsp. of the mixture for each regular-size load of laundry.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't grate food with the cheese grater you grated soap with. Keep a separate cheese grater just for grating soap.

References

• Mother Nature Network: Back to Basics -- Fels-Naptha
• Tip Nut: 10 Homemade Laundry Soap Detergent Recipes

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Fels- Naptha: Home Page