Let's Talk Laundry

I will admit that the first time I heard of making your own laundry soap, I cringed a little. I am particular about my laundry soap. It must clean extremely well and it also has to smell good. Gain Apple Mango Tango has been my detergent of choice for the last 4-5 years. I love the way it cleans and the smell is AMAZING! It met my every requirement with the exception of the price tag. We usually buy the size that says it contains 48 loads for $10.97 (Wal-Mart price). Now, one might think that $10.97 is not that expensive but let’s add in fabric softener. I liked the coordinating Gain Fabric Softener for $4.47 for 52 loads. Both lasted us around 3 months so the approximate cost per year is $60-65. You might not think that’s too bad but I could use all the extra money I can get (gotta pay for my craft addiction somehow). 

So when I discovered the price of homemade laundry detergent, I couldn’t NOT try it. It is INSANELY cheap! Try approximately $28…A YEAR! That’s based on 6 loads of laundry a week (It’s just me and Mr. Awesome at home so we normally only do around 4 which means this will last around 18 months!) How is that not the best news you have heard all day...maybe even all week. Trust me, Mr. Awesome was beyond excited and totally on board when he found out the price.


Once it was decided that I would give this a go, it was a must for me to do some research. I looked up a ton of recipes. I tried a small batch of one, wasn’t as impressed as I had hoped so I went back and did more research and even more after that until I finally settled on the recipe that I thought would be best. I mentioned it to Courtney and she decided to give it a try also so we went to Wal-Mart to buy our supplies and then headed over to my house to make us some soap.

Alright, are you ready for the recipe?

You will need

1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax- Found in the detergent aisle

1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda- Found in the detergent aisle

1 (3 lb) Container of OxyClean- Found in the detergent aisle. (This is optional but I recommend adding it)

2 (14.1 oz) Bars of Zote Soap- Found in the detergent aisle (we chose to do pink for the scent but the white would be just fine. You can also use Fels Naptha)

2 (2 lb) Boxes of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda- Found in the cooking aisle (You could also get 1 4 lb box, we just couldn’t find it when we went)

1-2 (55 oz) Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener- Found in the detergent aisle (This is 100% optional. Like I said, my laundry detergent must smell good and I really like soft towels)

This is such an easy recipe. The hardest part is grating the soap so let’s get that out of the way. We used just a regular cheese grater and grated into a large mixing bowl. I have read that some people use food processors and have good luck. Just for kicks, we attempted it in the blender…it does not work. I’m hoping to have a food processor before I have to make my next batch. The soap does seem to dissolve just fine, even in cold water. Now the hard part is over.

We used a large bucket that we got from my Father-in-law (Courtney’s Dad…did you know we are sister-in-laws?) All that is left is to mix everything together. We took a layering approach to the mixing. We put in a little of everything, mixed it up, then put in some more, mixed it up, then added the rest and mixed it up really well.

Now, you can either keep it in the bucket and dish it out from that each time you do a load, or you can refill a smaller container. I opted for the smaller container and in a stroke of geniusness, we discovered that the Purex Bottles were 1.) The perfect size and 2.) The caps that come on the bottles have measuring lines and the middle line is just the perfect amount (you want to use 1-2 Tablespoons per load depending on size…I usually always opt for 2 though)

That’s all there is to it. Pretty easy right? We thought so.

I thought that it would be a good idea to get some opinions and do some reviews so I have given some samples to some people and will post their reviews as they come in. I would also LOVE to hear from you and get your reviews on it. You can email us at ourdiydiaries@gmail.com (and I’ll publish some of them) or you can leave your review in the comments section.

I’ll (Jen) start…I LOVE THIS STUFF! I think it cleans well and I really like the addition of the Purex Fabric softener. I did decide to add a second bottle to my batch for extra softness and smell though and would recommend it to those who want a stronger scent. Minus the Fabric softener, it is extremely mild in scent. It did take a little while to get used to the fact that it doesn’t suds (I kept thinking that I didn’t add enough, but trust me, you did) It just isn’t a sudsy soap. It works so well though and Mr. Awesome thinks so as well. We will definitely be using this from now on!

Courtney: So far so good. Besides the time consuming of the cutting the cheese, I mean soap, it was easy to make. I have never been a high quality type of girl so it not being a brand name doesn’t bug me at all. I was worried about the hub’s sensitive nose, but he has no problems with it. I am so surprised by how much is needed. I often find myself having to pour some back in the container.

Marla (Jen's awesome Mom): I used it on a couple batches of laundry and it seems to clean very well and it didn't have a perfumey smell that would bother my sensitive nose. So far so good! I will continue to use it. 

We would love to hear from you! Tell us if you give this recipe a try and how you like it or let us know if you have a different favorite recipe.