How To: DIY Your Own Laundry Soap
You’re doing your routine shopping trip and you’re almost done. Score! You’re about to head to the check isle when you forget….. The Laundry Soap! So you whiz into the home care products to get your favorite fragrant smelling liquid detergent..
But wait! Hold up just a minute! Have you ever really stopped and thought about exactly what is laundry soap? What are its contents? Why are some more expensive than others? What’s up with the strong fragrances, are they natural even? And can anyone explain why the liquid “stains” the plastic so we can’t recycle them??
If you answered No Sarah I haven’t , well neither did I until recent… It wasn’t until I started seeing some adds on my social media discussing the harmful effects of liquid laundry soap.What Exactly is Laundry Soap? Do I really need to purchase this plastic jug? And is there a possibility that I can make it at home?
It’s caused me to go down a rabbit hole. In the process I have created my own laundry soap that I tested and felt I should share with you lovely people here. And so this post is dedicated to a How To: DIY Your Own Laundry Soap
I’ll let you in on a secret; I Love To Create! I love making things with my hands. What better way to bring Mindfulness to your household than by creating a physical product with your own hands? There’s just something about focusing solely on that item you are working on. Your troubles seem to wash away for that moment when I’m creating that I truly enjoy…..
A Short History…
Soap originated back in early Egyptian times (2800BC). At first soap making was a household chore to make in people’s kitchens. In Europe soap was considered a luxury item to have. Soap was originally made from ashes and animal fats. It wasn’t until WWI with the shortage of animal fats that scientists were able to product the first detergent chemicals. By the 1950’s the US started producing sales of these detergents. Since then there has been many refinement by scientists to form what products we have on the market today! (More on the history of soap found here. Non affiliate link)
The first types of laundry soaps were powders, and tablets. However it paved way to the liquid detergents because many of these powders were plugging people’s in home washing machines. Liquids can dissolve at colder temperatures whereas powders can not. So it seems liquid detergents can seem the best way to go when purchasing laundry soap correct? Ehhh…Keep reading.
The Issues with Commercial Laundry Soaps
Fast forward to 2023 and there are TONS of laundry soaps on the market. There’s different brands, scents, big packaging, little packing, different prices. It’s overwhelming. The additives. The list continues….
The amount of plastic we use is overwhelming! Okay so I’m not going all Earth Hippy and getting into a movement here. We can all acknowledge that there’s too much plastic and we don’t really know how to get rid of it. If your like me you think; Recycle! The problem is; You Can’t Recycle Laundry Containers! The dyes from the liquid detergent stains the plastics deeming them unusable. So they still end up discarded. (Which hurts my heart knowing I’ve been doing this all these years and it didn’t amount to anything.) It’s a pretty big problem we are facing currently. It’s not just the consumers problem either, it’s also the manufactures problem to help solve too….
The Fragrances are Not Natural and can be harmful! According to the Hazardous Waste Management Program,(No affiliate link here just citing resources used to create this post.) Many fragrances listed in laundry soaps are found to be have harmful chemicals. The Worst Part: Companies don’t have to put all the chemicals down they use to create products on containers. We consumers truly don’t know what is floating in that liquid detergent…
What’s so bad about artificial fragrances? A; They can mimic our natural hormones found within our bodies and disrupt our hormone cycles! More formally called Hormone Disruptors. If you want to learn more; here’s a short article from the National Institute of Environmental Health Services. It explains it in-depth and chemicals you could be using daily in products that are truly affecting your health!
So now we are understanding some of these issues with these laundry soaps. Does it make you stop and question what you’re purchasing now? Maybe you’re sold after viewing some of the articles linked and want to start Creating Your Own Laundry Soap and begin your How To; DIY Your Own Laundry Soap
Why Create Your Own Laundry Soap?
I’ve looked at many ways to create my own laundry soap, and felt overwhelmed by all the recipes I found. Finally, I tried one to create and test. I think you will enjoy it! This How To: DIY Your own Laundry Soap is not hard and only requires Three Store Bought Ingredients! (Borax laundry booster and multi-purpose cleaner, Arm and Hammer super washing soda, and Fels-Naptha laundry bar & stain remover)
After discussing how companies have legal rights to not put all their ingredients on the bottles; Why wouldn’t you want to at least try and make your own? Also understanding that some of those chemicals can be truly harmful to our health is also another great reason to look into an alternative!
Cost Effective. Considering there’s only three ingredients needed it is worth it to purchase! You will also have two products (Borax and Arm & Hammer) left over so you can create more when your first batch runs out!
Efficient. You will create two full quart size mason jars of laundry soap, you use about a tablespoon per load of laundry depending on the size. That’s a bit of laundry soap.
Repurpose. You can also use the left over Borax and Arm &Hammer for other cleaning modalities within your home! It’s up to you if you want to save these for your next batch of laundry detergent or go ahead and use them for cleaning other areas of your house. Regardless these items are great in home cleaners!
Simplicity. Although you will spend time creating this soap, you also know what it is created out of! No more worrying about hazardous chemicals in your laundry soap! The benefits of DIY Your Own Laundry Soap; You know exactly how it’s made!
What About HE Machines?
I personally do not own an HE machine however l would recommend thinning out the detergent if you want to place in the laundry dispenser. The recipe I share created a thicker creamer substance. But if you are worried about gumming your machine, I would recommend placing the homemade laundry soap right in with the clothes when you load them into your washer. However this recipe soap was easily dissolvable when I placed into my washer, I also use cold water for my washing as well.
I did perform some research on if it’s okay to use in HE machines. I received a lot of mixed reviews, some sources say you can, others say no. If you’re unsure see what your washer’s manufacturer says.
But hold on! Before you decide to click off this post because you own an HE machine; Borax is safe, it has the logo on the box! Arm & Hammer’s super washing soda also is safe for HE machines according to the Arm and Hammer Website. So is Fels Naptha. None of these ingredients have a “sudsing” agent which would deem it not HE Washer Safe. So I say go about at your own risk.
Ingredients/Supplies required
- One Bar of Fels Naptha
- 1 Cup of Borax, laundry booster & multi-purpose cleaner
- 1 Cup of Arm & Hammer Laundry Booster Super Washing Soda
- 4 Cups Water
- 2 of 1 quart mason jars, or what ever you plan to store. (I recommend glass due to placing the soap in the container while it is still fairly warm.)
- A Blender
- A food Processor, or cheese grater. (You will need to grate the Fels Naptha Bar, it will dissolve in water easier)
You should be able to find all these products at your local super markets, Walmart, or you can even order online.
Instructions: How To DIY Your Own Laundry Soap
- Begin by taking a large pot and place in 4 Cups of water bringing it to about a Boil.
- Shave the 1 bar of Fels Naptha.
- I found it easy to place in my food processor, I have an attachment to grate. It took seconds! Otherwise use good ole’ elbow grease!
- Combine the 1 Cup of Borax and Arm and Hammer powders together in a separate bowl making sure they’re thoroughly mixed through.
- When the water reaches to about a boil, place your shaved Fels Naptha bar in the pot.
- Stir frequently. Watch it will become sudsy, that’s why I recommend a bigger pot.
- Make sure all the shredded bar is Completely Dissolved. When you notice it is, take away from heat.
- Mix the Borax and Arm and Hammer powders into the melted Fels Naptha solution.
- I added the mixed powders slowly ( you don’t have to but I found it easier) Stir Continuously. (Emphasis on this)
- Ensure the “gritty texture” is gone off the bottom of the pot. You will feel the difference when everything is mixed properly.
- Pour into your jar of choice.
- As I mentioned previously I recommend glass because this mixture will still be fairly hot when handling it. You don’t want a plastic container melting.
- Cover your containers and let sit.
- This will take a few hours. (I left mine overnight) You want to have the mixture cooled down before the last step! You will notice that your mixture will begin to separate, that’s okay it will!
- Place the laundry mixture into your blender and blend!
- Note, I realized my mixture was pretty thick blending it, I used about 1/4-1/2 cup warm water to cut and thin out the mixture. You will notice a white cream like constancy when finished unless you thin it more with water.
- Place back into your jar of choice and Done!
You will notice that this laundry soap doesn’t suds up as much as the commercial liquid detergents. However, I found this cream constancy to easily dissolve in cold water leaving my clothes with a nice light clean smell.
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