Making Your Own Laundry Detergent

I have read MANY reviews on making your own laundry detergent and there seems to a vast majority of different recipes as well as different opinions as to whether it really does work and if it really does save you money.

The only way to find out was to try it for myself! I found a few articles on how to make your own and they all pretty much consisted of the same ingredients:

• Naptha Fels Soap
• Borax
• Washing Soda

Well of course, my local stores did not have the Naptha Fels Soap so I decided to look online. I found this AWESOME site, Soaps Gone Buy, where they have all these different types of hard to find soaps and cleaners that are all purpose and from way back when! The site was very informative & helpful even offering recipes & tips for some of their well known products. But my FAVORITE part about the site was that they offered a Make Your Own Detergents Kits section!

One of the 1st steps to making your own laundry is to grate the Naptha Fels soap, and I don’t know about you, but I do not have a specific grater just for soap, nor did I (after reading so many reviews) want to grate my own as it seemed to be a real hard task for some and I like easy to say the least. With Soaps Gone Buy Laundry Kits, you have the option of purchasing  pre grated Soap! WooHoo! And a kit, what could be easier??

Stephanie, owner of Soaps Gone Buy was more than happy to send SisterlySavings a Kit to try out and I was ever so anxious to get it! I specifically saved laundry day for the day it would come!

The Laundry Kit came neatly packaged in a box with all of the ingredients I needed packaged securely in plastic ZipLoc Bags (Great job Stephanie!). She also was kind enough to send me a package of Powdered Homemade Laundry Soap that she had made. Off to the laundry room I went armed with all my supplies as well as my recipe.

First, I had to decide whether I wanted Liquid or Powder. After reading and seeing how the liquid form looks I decided to go with powder as it was all a matter of measuring the ingredients and placing them in a container:) I did mention I like easy right?

I tried the whites first with this new Homemade Version with 2 tablespoons and then I did a batch with my regular 1 cup  laundry detergent, Gain.

Conclusion: Amazingly enough, they both came out about the same! Two differences I noticed:

1. With the homemade version, there is no scent. Just clean clothes
2. An AMAZING SOFTNESS like you would not believe!

Now let me talk some more on the softness issue as I was really loving the feeling of my clothes. I’m talking about the kind of softness that you get when you have a well worn favorite shirt that is worn till its so soft! Know that feeling or am I the only one? I never got that kind of softness even with my Snuggle Fabric Softner!

Ok, now on to the color clothes, this time I added a little softner to the homemade version for scent purposes (Ok, I’m a glutton for the fresh, clean smell of the towels when I come out the shower!). Still no difference in overall cleaning compatibility. Both the homemade version as well as the store bought version worked the same in my opinion.

So what is the overall price comparison calculations based on per load vs the the 2 different forms? I am not a mathemetician nor am I gonna sit here and try to figure them out for you. But you can get a real good idea from this article here that I found to be helpful with pricing the two and definitely made me rethink about buying vs making my own!

Here are the ingredients that Stephanie from Soaps Gone Buy uses:

Powdered Laundry Detergent (Her favorite)

1 cup grated Fels Naptha Soap

1/2 cup washing soda

1/2 cup 20 mule team borax

Mix and store in airtight container or bag. For light or small loads, use 1 tablespoon. For normal loads, use 2 tablespoons. For heavy loads, use 3 tablespoons. Cost per load .15.

To make a large batch – grate 6 bars of Fels Naptha Soap and then add 3 cups of Washing Soda and 3 cups of 20 Mule Team Borax. Mix well and store in covered container.

Stephanie was also kind enough to share a few tips with us as well:

There are a couple of things to remember when using the homemade detergent:

1. It DOES NOT SUD! If you like to see suds in the washer, you will hate this detergent. It is a pure soap so there are little if any suds present.
2. A little goes a long way! If you are using the dry version, you only need 2 tablespoons per normal load. One tablespoon for light load and 3 if it is a really heavy load.
3. If you use fabric softener, you should reduce the amount by at least half. If you do not reduce it, your towels will become so soft, they will no longer absorb water. Most people eliminate fabric softener completely or only use a dryer sheet.
4. If you make the liquid version, SHAKE it up before you use it. A great reader tip is to put marbles in the bottom of the jug so it helps to mix it all up when you shake it. If the liquid becomes too thick, simply thin it with HOT water to the desired consistency. This will not hurt its effectiveness.

There you have it! My final decision is to stick with the homemade version and I plan on purchasing at Soaps Gone Buy for the added ease and practicality they offer:) But don’t take my word for it!

Soaps Gone Buys has graciously offered one of our readers a chance to make their own at home with a Make Your Own Laundry Kit!

Kit Includes:

* 2 Pounds of GRATED Fels Naptha Soap
* 76 ounce Box of 20 Mule Team Borax
* 55 ounce Box of Washing Soda
* 5.5 ounce bar of Fels Naptha Heavy Duty Laundry Soap

To enter, visit Soaps Gone Buy and tell us what  Recipe would best suit you or 1what product tip would benefit you!

To gain extra entries:

Blog about this Giveaway, then come back here and leave a second comment along with Link to Blog Post!

Has anyone tried making their own laundry detergen or uses it? Tell us about it an earn an additional entry!

Giveaway will end Sunday, Nov 23rd at 12 am EST and winner will be announced on Monday, Nov 24th. Winner will have 24 hours to claim prize before another winner will be chosen. Please be sure to leave an email so that we can contact you!

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