There have been recipes through the years that I’ve posted for homemade laundry detergent but I was reminded last night that I’ve probably never posted the one I use for HE washers. The recipe is here. I don’t change anything but if I’m washing a load of clothes Vince has worn outside while working and they’re really dirty, I’ll add a tablespoon of extra Borax to the washer.
I would give you my opinion as to the cost but there’s too much calculating.
Borax – a box of Borax is currently $4.69 at Walmart. It’s 7.2 cents per ounce.
Washing Soda – a box is currently $4.17. It’s 7.6 cents per ounce
Baking Soda – .52 per pound
Fels Naptha – $1/bar
For less than $20, I’m sure I can make enough detergent to last well over a year. I use 2 T. mostly but if there’s a load of really dirty clothes, or an extra large load, I’ll use 3 T. As mentioned earlier, for Vince’s work outside and get really nasty clothes, I add Borax.
I use the Maxam chopper to grate the bar and it comes out very fine.
I use this recipe for fabric softener except for our sheets. For our sheets, I use the Purex Crystals. They smell so good. I love crawling in bed with great smelling sheets. Vince often complains about scents but I’ve used the crystals for several years and he’s never complained . . maybe because when I get in bed, I keep saying “I LOVE how these sheets smell” and he doesn’t want to say “I don’t!” No, Vince would say it if it bothered him.
There it is. There’s a little one tablespoon scoop in there. I should keep track of how many loads I get from that but I doubt I’ll remember to do that.
The beauty of this is that it is inexpensive, though there are detergents that are decent that are about the same price (Arm & Hammer) but it takes up so little space to have the Borax, Washing Soda, Baking Soda and Fels Naptha around that I could make a lifetime supply from what fits under the sink in the laundry room.
If you’re doing this outside like I was today, find a place that’s shielded from the wind or you’ll end up with soap powder up your nose!
Carol says
I don’t see where you say how much of this detergent you use in a normal load of wash. ONE of the tablespoons that you keep in the container? If so, that really seems to be a great bargain–and I assume you are satisfied as how clean it gets your clothes. Wonder if this would be good for people who are sensitive to allergens in detergents?
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I have no idea about allergic reactions. I mostly use 2 T. I went back and edited the post I had included that info but took it out accidentally while changing something else.
I have no idea how much to add for regular washers that aren’t HE. I think I remember 1/2 cup but I’m sure it says it on the linked recipe.
Liz says
I’ve used a similar recipe and I use 2 tablespoons of the mix for the wash and I sometimes add 1-2 tablespoons of Oxiclean. I’ll be trying the addition of regular baking soda to my next batch.
The last time I bought the stuff was through Amazon – I just checked the website and the washing soda and borax were t the same price as the Walmart’s quoted in Judy’s post. The Fels Naptha bar was .88 each.
Since I have Prime, there is no cost for shipping, so it is nice to order the stuff and have it show up and I don’t have to carry it. But, if you do order a quantity, try to move the stuff to a container where you can control the moisture. One time, I ended up with a brick, so now I “decant” to smaller enclosed containers.
I have a few microplane graters, so I use one to grate the fels soap. It may take a bit longer to do, but less cleanup than using my blender and the result is finer.
I have skin issues and have not noticed a reaction to this soap formula. My reactions tend to be related to food, but I’m sure that any chemical will impact the reaction. As long as I am doing ok with the food, I have not had a reaction to the laundry.
If you are not sure, make a small batch to try. If you react, donate the mixture to a friend.
Liz says
Another point, since I know that the mixture is better and cheaper than regular laundry detergents, I have no issues with doing more loads. I have two baskets (lights/darks) and when one is full, then I do that wash. I prefer washing a load every day than to wait until I am out of something.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
We never run out of things but my washer is huge. I don’t wash often. I try to hang clothes on the line so try to pick sunny days. Each week, I usually wash one load of jeans; one load of dark shirts; one load of light shirts; one load of undies/pajamas; one load of towels and one load of dish towels. Mostly my dish towels just get wet so I’ll hang them on the line to dry, then throw them in the dirty clothes.
One day I’ll wash the jeans, and two loads of shirts. Another day I’ll wash undies/pajamas, towels and dish towels.
I have to plan it so I don’t run out of clothes line space. Of course, if I have to use the dryer, it’s here.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I’ve had the Fels Naptha soap forever and still have about 20 bars so no telling what I paid for it. I did not see Fels Naptha at Amazon for .88. Every bar I saw was over $2. Good find.
patti says
not a prime member but since i’ve been buying fels naptha (more than 20 years), it’s been about $1 bar. i use 2 bars each time i make laundry soap, and the batch lasts me over a year.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I’ve been using it almost that long but I never pay attention to the price. We used to buy it at Rural King in Kentucky and sometimes it was hard to get. Vince asked the guy there if he would order it for us. Vince told him “12” meaning 12 bars but the guy understand that to mean 12 cases so we got 144 bars of Fels Naptha and we’re still using it. I put six bars to a bag and vacuum sealed it so it wouldn’t dry out (don’t even know if it would) and I find a bag of Fels Neptha soap in boxes when I’m digging. I have no idea if we’ve even used half of it. I told Chad I would give him some to make laundry detergent but he said he wants to wait and see how long it takes me to use all mine.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
One thing . . your old bars were probably 5.5 oz. and the new bars are now 5.0 ounces so there may have been an increase that didn’t look like an increase.
Rebecca says
“Ain’t” that always the way! I was making a cake from 15-20 years ago that used a box of cake mix. I had to supplement that, or the proportions would have been way off! (Soggy cake, anyone? I didn’t think so.)
judy.blog@gmail.com says
It seems to me like the more honest and forthright thing to do is just raise the price and leave the contents/weight the same. In my opinion, reducing the weight and charging the same is misleading. In the end, they can do whatever they please . . they don’t care what we think but sometimes, at least in the old days, they wanted to act like they cared what we thought. So many recipes are based on old weights. It certainly doesn’t save us any money when we have to use 1-1/3 boxes of cake mix to make a recipe that calls for 1 box based on the old weights.
Rebecca says
The recipe was from that long ago!
Rebecca says
-Do you use this as a stain treatment, too? Rub some into stains?
I looked up fels naptha soap, and it warned to use rubber gloves with it. The site mentioned that it’s an excellent degreaser, so you wouldn’t want that on your skin for long!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I do not use gloves (though I probably should). I hold it with a paper towel because the moisture in my skin will make it damp. I always come in and rinse my hands and use lotion.
It’s always best to check skin sensitivity levels. I don’t have sensitive skin but when you think there’s 1 cup of washing soda, 1 cup of baking soda, 1/2 cup of borax and a bar of Fels Naptha grated in there and you’re only using 2 T. per load that’s hopefully all rinsed away, for me, it isn’t going to cause a problem but for some, it could cause horrible problems.
I always hesitate to recommend things like this because I don’t want to cause anyone problems. It’s just hamburgers. How many people can’t eat a hamburger without needing a trip to the ER? ME!!
Joyce says
The recipe I use is similar: 1 bar of Fels Naptha, 1 1/2 cup borax, 1 1/2 cup washing soda. I use 1 tablespoon per load unless the clothes are very dirty. I kept track one time, and that recipe does approximately 50 loads of laundry. At the time I figured it was about 5 cents per load. (I know the prices have gone up since then…)