Recipes & Costs
Easy powder laundry detergent: (‘easy’ is questionable, lol)
1. 1 4-5 oz. bar of soap, grated*
2. 1 cup of borax
3. 1 cup of washing soda
Unwrap the Fels-Naptha soap and microwave at 30-second intervals on a paper plate until it gets all puffy. The puffiness makes the dense soap much simpler to grate to the fine texture that’s needed for easy dissolving. Allow the soap to cool completely before grating or it’ll get clumpy. Put it in a plastic grocery bag and run a rolling pin over it. If using Zote, dry well after microwaving and before processing - about 250°for 30 min. Or chop the cooled soap into chunks and place into a food processor one bar at a time. Add about 1/4 cup of the baking soda to keep the soap from clumping together. (You can also use a hand grater for this part, but it’ll take a little longer. Still easier with the puffy soap than if you had a regular bar.) Process until it’s really finely grated, resembling the texture of cornmeal. The more finely grated the soap is, the better it’ll dissolve in your washing machine, especially in cold water.
*1 3/4 cup Fels Naptha or 1 1/4 cup Zote, pulverized using the microwave method.
Use 1-2 tbsp per load.
Can add to 1 quart + 1 gallon water for a liquid/gel detergent.
Liquid laundry detergent
1/2 cup grated soap melted in 4 cups hot water, then add 1/4 cup Washing Soda and 1/4 cup Borax. Stir until smooth. Add 1/4 cup Vinegar. Will foam up when add vinegar, but keep stirring. Stir until cooled a little. Add 2 cups water and stir. Can add hot water if is too snot-like. Add 2 cups more water. And one more time. Stir constantly until cool. Use 1/4 - 1/3 capful. Works great!
If ends up like snot, then bring to a boil, then cool while whisking constantly to a smooth texture.
(I kept having to add water since it kept thickening up!)
1 recipe makes almost 100 ounces.
Cost Analysis – updated 2024
Super Wash Soda:
$5.38/55 oz = $0.0987/oz
1/4 cup = 2.5 oz
$0.0987/oz * 2.5 oz = $0.25/ 1/4 cup
Borax:
$5.97/65 oz = $0.092/oz
1/4 cup = 2 oz
$0.092/oz * 2 oz = $0.18 / 1/4 cup
Fels Naptha:
$1.78 per bar
1/2 cup is about 1/2 bar
$0.89 per 1/2 cup
Vinegar:
~$0.08 / 1/4 cup
Sum: $1.40 per 100 oz (Arm&Hammer $9.48, Equate $7.67)
$2.10 per 150 oz
Quite a cost savings!!
I used this recipe when DH and I first got married. It worked well, especially for normal cleaning. I still kept some store bought laundry detergent around for really soiled clothes.
Fels Naptha is a great soap for pretreating stains too… I scrubbed my boys’ baseball pants with it, wherever there were red clay stains from sliding into base etc.
CB, it’s so funny that you sent this because I was organizing our laundry area this morning and happened to find a container with my homemade detergent! Mine had Fels Naphtha (or Zote, whichever I could find, Borax and the washing powder. I found it worked well and did dissolve, plus I would add some drops of essential oils to the rinse cycle.
I stopped because I was having some skin problems and started using only Free & clear of whatever brand is on sale. I used to use a designated cheese grater for the soap. If I wasn’t so afraid of an allergic flareup, I’d make it again.
So I would say, stock up on those new little sheets of paper infused with detergent, since storing a lot of them won't take up much room.
This presupposes that we will still have water, electricity to run a washer, and heat sources to run a water heater.
If not, I guess we're going to be washing by hand with rainwater in a plastic kiddie pool, or in my neighborhood, hike downhill 1/2 mile to the creek and hope it is not too polluted by human feces after the water mains are shut down, then drag the wet wash 1/2 mile uphill.
Might be preferable to die for the cause by taking a glow bullist out with you.
Hi Cottonball! I’m way behind n looking forward to catching up o thread n posts
Cotton is super wash soda same as baking soda ?