I Made My Own Laundry Soap

I have been hunting the web for a while on laundry soap because I wanted a cheaper alternative that I knew what the ingredients were.  But all I found were liquid soap versions.  I don't like liquid soap.  I tend to spill it, use too much and it makes a sticky mess everywhere.  Then one day I stumbled across this website: http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/  I thought these were great ideas and they even had powdered laundry soap in there.  My pick was #4.  Then I had to gather the ingredients and since I figured the soap would be the hardest part to find I started my search there.  I was in luck when I went to Winco and found Kirk's Hardwater Castile soap (3 bars for $3.25).  I liked the smell of it and it wasn't too expensive.  Then, on another trip to Walmart I tried to find Borax and Washing Soda.  I was out of luck.  They don't sell either in the city where I live at Walmart.  These are and were common ingredients for household chores.  Since when did they become so unpopular?

For a few months I procrastinated in finding the rest of my ingredients.  Then my cloth diapers came.  I knew I would need special laundry soap for them so they wouldn't become waterproofed by commercial detergents.  This happens all the time to new mothers who are trying to cloth diaper.  Those nice detergents that smell so good are wreaking havoc on our budgets and make the laundry waterproof.  That is not something you want in a clothing item that is supposed to absorb liquid.

I did some more research and found that the laundry soap I wanted to make was good for cloth diapering.  I could have shouted for joy.  My hunt was back on and I found Borax in Target for $2.99 for a 76 oz box.  That is a good price.  Washing Soda was not so easy.  When I asked a worker there he had to radio in the request because he had never heard of it.  I tried to explain that it was like baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) but was for laundry.  I also said that there was a difference in it's composition so I wasn't going to use baking soda because what I wanted was sodium carbonate.  After more research I found that you could get sodium carbonate in the pool isle at Walmart.  It's used to help the PH balance in a pool.  But then I wasn't sure if I was going to get a good price for it.  Would it be cheaper if I bought it in the pool isle rather than in the laundry isle?  Baking soda is cheaper in the baking isle than if you find it in the laundry isle.  You have to look out for those things.  I did more research and found that Ace Hardware will sell it for $3.79 for a 55 oz box.  This was better than Amazon.com who wanted to sell it for $5.53 per box. 

Keeping these prices in my mind I found myself once more at Winco and took a detour to their laundry isle.  Imagine to my joy finding Washing Soda right next to the Borax.  And they only wanted $2.70 for it.  The Borax was 3.99 so I saved myself a dollar by getting it at Target.

I rounded up all my ingredients and set to work shaving down the bar soap with my cheese grater.  It was tough work.  Bar soap is a lot harder to grate than cheese.  After 4 minutes I finally grated 1 whole bar.  One 4 oz. bar comes out to about 2 cups.  I found an empty Tupperware container that I used to use for sugar and put in the bar soap.  Then I poured in 1 cup of washing soda and 1 cup of borax (I had to break the lumps up on the borax).  I used a wooden spoon to mix it all up and realized I had plenty of space for a second batch (or even a 3rd or 4th batch).  I got to work making up the second batch and when it was all finished I labeled my container with the recipe and how much you are supposed to use for each load of laundry.  Did you know you only need 1 Tbs for a load of laundry?  I think of those huge scoops they give you in the commercial boxes and wonder if you really need all that soap. 

I've been pre-washing my diapers to get them to quilt up and become absorbent all day.  They need to be washed about 5-7 times until the lint screen comes out clean on your dryer.  You also have to wash the diapers in a very particular way.  Here is what I found:

1.  In your washing machine (regular not HE), cold rinse the diapers
2.  Then, add your laundry detergent (not too much), and do a Hot Hot wash
3.  Next, dry your diapers in the dryer or hang to dry (hanging to dry takes less time than in the dryer) - Never use dryer sheets (fabric softeners waterproof your diapers). 
4.  Repeat steps 1-3 until your lint trap comes out clean.

The laundry soap recipe is:

1 bar of soap (Fels-Naptha, Ivory soap, Sunlight bar soap, Kirk’s Hardwater Castile, and Zote)
1 c. Borax
1 c. Washing Soda

Mix together and store in an air tight container

1 Tbs - light load
2 Tbs - medium load
3 Tbs - heavily soiled load

Cloth diapers should use the least amount so you don't accidentally make them waterproof with too much soap.

I've tried it and so far my diapers don't have any scent to them.  I like the scent of Kirk's because it's so mild and isn't offensive.

My total expense:

Soap $1.08 per bar
Borax $2.99 per box (about 9 cups) - $0.33 per batch
Washing soda $2.70 per box (about 6 cups) - $0.45 per batch

Each batch is $1.86 and can do about 64 loads max.  That's about $0.03 per load. 

I love saving money.