There are several good reasons to make your own DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent, but homesteaders are pretty dedicated to using the healthiest options, even with the simple stuff. It doesn't always matter how much you pay for store bought laundry detergents when it comes to cleaning power. These big companies must compete for shelf space at the supercenter, so they all claim to be the best. But they also have to hit a price point set by the store, so they may have to water down their product, or make it less effective with fillers.
It's these fillers and unnecessary additives that cause skin irritations, dull clothing and stains that won't disappear. Making your own laundry soap and cleaner recipes will give you control of what goes into your wash and more than likely save you a ton of money.
Also, if you use an Off Grid Non Electric Washing Machine like is described in another of our articles, you are probably going to want to use cleaning products that will work the best with it. Clothes washers like the Laundry POD are designed to use a minimum of water and soap, and will also give you the advantage of taking better care of your favorite clothing.
Contents Of This Article
Old Time Soap Making
Back in time when folks made everything they needed at the homestead soap was made a couple of times per year – because it was an all day job. They made their soap using fat, like hog fat, lye from wood ashes and water. Hard to believe you could make soap from hog fat, right? But that's how it was done.
You may have seen those cool looking v shaped troughs in old time pictures, well that's where they made the lye. It was filled with wood ashes from the stove and then rain water soaked through and leached out the lye.
When lye is mixed into the fat with pure spring water a whole new compound is created, making old time lye soap. It was a hot and messy job, but yielded enough soap for quite some time.
Make Your Own Laundry Detergent
These days there are several ways to make homemade laundry detergent, both powdered and liquid versions. But one of the most common ways is to copy the old time soap with other more modern ingredients.
The good news is you don't have to spend all day making lye soap like they did in the old days. You just buy that part already made like Fels Naptha and grate it up for mixing in with the other ingredients.
Homemade Laundry Soap Recipes
There are actually quite a number of ways to make your own laundry soap. Which way you choose may have to do with your reasons for making your own recipe. Some want to save money, others are interested in controlling the ingredients for allergic reasons, and some may just want the challenge of the DIY experience.
Let's start with a homemade dry mix and work on toward homemade liquid laundry detergent. Dry mix works just fine like any powdered laundry detergent you might buy, but you will have the peace of mind knowing what's in there.
Powdered Laundry Detergent Recipe
- 1 bar Zote Laundry Bar Soap 14.1 oz Pink or White
- 2 bars Fels Naptha Laundry Bar Soap 5 oz each
- 1 box 65 oz Borax detergent booster
- 1 box 55 oz Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
- 4 cups baking soda
Mix And Use
- Grate the Soap
- Mix the ingredients
- Use 2 tablespoons per load
Here's some brands we recommend:
The reason for recommending these soaps is that not all bars are good for laundry. Many bar soaps are formulated as extra moisturizing with a low pH. These soaps are great for our skin, but not for lifting stains in the laundry. A good laundry bar will be very hard, effective at cutting grease, and will produce a good lather.
The remaining two ingredients are Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda and 20 Mule Team Borax, 1 cup of each. Once you have grated up your laundry bar, stir the 3 ingredients together well, and if you want a well blended detergent, just put it all in the food processor and grind it up. Use 1 Tbsp per small load, like you might use in the Laundry POD Non Electric Washing Machine, or 2-3 Tbsp for larger loads in your automatic washer.
Homemade Natural Liquid Laundry Detergent Recipe
To make a liquid laundry detergent you can use the same ingredients as the powdered mix, just in a different way. First put your grated Fels Naptha Soap in a sauce pan with a few cups of water and heat. Don't heat too much and definitely don't boil. Just enough to melt the soap into the water.
Now add two gallons of water into a five gallon plastic bucket and add all the other ingredients, then stir in the melted Fels Naptha Soap. Consistency may seem lumpy, but it's fine.
Use 2 tablespoons per load
Homemade Laundry Soap With Dawn
Love it or hate it, Dawn soap is the bomb when it comes to getting things clean. You can make an effective DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent with this recipe. One gallon liquid laundry detergent recipe:
- 3/4 cup borax
- 3/4 cup washing soda
- 3/4 cup blue Dawn
- water
Use a gallon plastic jug with a lid. Mix borax and washing soda with a small amount of water and add to the jug. Finish filling the jug with water, leaving enough room to add the Dawn last. Don't shake to mix and this point, just roll the jug gently to avoid making suds.
Use 2 tablespoons per load
This video shows exactly how to mix this DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent.
[vop id='65']
Natural Homemade Laundry Soap With Soapberries
Soapberries are the fruit of trees which are native to North America and an old time Ozarks secret. This tree produces orange fruits that resemble cherries and lather when mixed with water.
If you are hardcore homesteading you can actually grow the tree. Western soapberry is a North American native and an excellent shade or ornamental tree. If you’re looking to add a little more green to the yard and want something drought tolerant, then this tree may be the tree for you.
Just harvest soapberries and use naturally. However, if you just like the idea but don't want to have the tree you can just order the finished soapberry detergent.
Order Soapberries Here Delivered To Your Door
Natural Laundry Stain Removers
Distilled white vinegar removes many stains as well as odors. Rub straight white vinegar onto the stained area before washing the garment. Coffee stains are one of the worst culprits but can be removed from clothes by applying undiluted white vinegar.
Are your wool and silks getting a yellow tint? Fill a bucket with 1 pint of warm water and add a tablespoon of vinegar. Soak the fabric for a little while and then wash to brighten the garment and take the yellow out.
Baking soda lifts stains from fabric – just mix 4 tbsp. of baking soda with 1/4 cup of water to make a general stain remover paste. Rub onto rust stains and fresh grease stains and use it to clean perspiration stains and collar rings before washing.. Apply baking soda to bad stains and let it sit for three hours before washing.
- Remove blood stains before they set in by soaking with cold water 10 minutes before washing.
- Remove chocolate stains by soaking in club soda before washing.
- Lipstick stains and ink stains need a 30-minute soak in milk.
- Lemon juice removes rust stains and perspiration marks.
- Apply straight table salt to fresh red wine stains, let it sit for an hour or two before washing.
- Use glycerin to remove tea, perfume, cola and mustard stains.
A fresh stain comes out more easily than a set in stain, so treat stains as soon as you can. Even if you don't have time to wash the clothes right away, get the stain soaking. Always use cold water to soak stains because hot water sets the stain in the fabric, making removal impossible.
Homemade Whitening Solution
This is “homemade” because most people just dump some bleach in the washer and hope for the best. But if you are going to take special steps to get your laundry looking it's best, this recipe is for you. There are some clothing items that just need to be really white. This recipe uses REALLY HOT water, so use the instructions above to remove any stains you possibly can first.
Then, mix up this concoction:
- No more water than you really need for the soak, but very hot, almost boiling.
- 1 cup of homemade laundry detergent
- 1 cup of powdered dishwasher detergent
- 1 cup bleach
- 1/2 cup borax
This recipe doesn't emit lots of fumes, but it's powerfully concentrated, so keep your face back from the steam. Soak in this solution for about 2 hours or even overnight it possible. After soaking you can wash normally and even if you use a simple machine like the non-electric laundry POD it will do a wonderful job on your whites.
Homemade Oxyclean Recipe
- 1 quart hydrogen peroxide
- 1 cup washing soda
Mix well. Add a 1/2 cup or so of the solution to your laundry load. Keep it out of the reach of children.
DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent Ingredients
Zote Laundry Bar Soap: Cleans, brightens, fresh scent.
Fels Naphtha Laundry Bar Soap: Cleans, powerful stain remover.
20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster: Water conditioner, boosts power of cleaners, removes odors and stains
Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda: laundry detergent booster.
Baking Soda: Odor eliminator & deodorizer
Click The Above Links To Order Product Shipped To Your Door
Reader Questions
Q: Can I use this homemade laundry detergent in my HE washer?
A: Yes. These homemade recipes make low suds ( except for the Dawn recipe) and will work great.
Q: I feel like I need more stain fighting power, what can I use?
A: Check out our homemade stain remover recipe above.
Q: I have sensitive skin, will this irritate me?
A: Skin sensitivities are caused by many various things and differ with each person. Make a small batch and try to test. If it irritates your skin you can give it to a friend.
Q: Do I need a fabric softener with this homemade laundry detergent?
A: Plain distilled vinegar makes a great natural fabric softener. Just pour it in the fabric softener compartment and it will make clothes super fluffy with no vinegar smell.
Q: How much do I use?
A: 1-2 tablespoons
Q: Why would I want to make my own detergent?
A: It’s cheaper, lasts all year, you can control the ingredients, it’s easy, and you can customize the scent with natural scented oils.
Are you looking for an Off Grid Washing Machine?
DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent and cleaning recipes can solve problems that have been nagging you a long time. It's easy to opt for convenience and settle for the less than desirable consequences because of our busy lives, but if it's time for you to slow down a little and enjoy healthier living, then try out these recipes.
