The Best Laundry Soap Recipe
Washing clothes. It is ritualistic and rewarding. Maybe not always when you have kids and there is more than one mountain of laundry to tackle! But folding warm clothes in the winter, slipping into clean sheets when going to bed and the fresh smell of a clean shirt are wonderful life experiences. My laundry room is nothing fancy. It is located in the basement of our 1907 home. It is a work room and to be honest, I love the old feel of the brick walls and the massive old work table I use to fold clothes on.
Appalachian Superstitions Around Laundry
- Don’t do laundry on New Years Day or Old Christmas, January 6th, or you will wash someone out of your life that year.
- Don’t wash clothes on Sunday.
The things that help me the most are keeping my laundry room tidy, sorting clothes when they come down the laundry chute, and not leaving clothes in the washer. One of the most money saving things I do when it comes to laundry is making my own laundry detergent. I have been doing this for years and can’t go back. When I have moved back to store bought detergents the perfumes are to strong and it is way more expensive.
Laundry Soap Recipe
1 Box (55oz) Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 Box (4lb) Arm and Hammer Baking Soda (can use off-brand)
1 Box (65oz) Borax
1 Box Oxy Clean (48-80oz) or Biz Powder (60oz) or any off brand powder stain remover
2 Bars Fels-Naptha Soap Bars – shredded finely
How to Make:
- Shred the Fels-Naptha bars as finely as possible. I use my kitchen grater.
2. In a large garbage bag dump all the ingredients together. You want a strong bag. If you choose not to use a bag a large tote box can be used.
3. Mix the ingredients thoroughly.
For laundry use – this is important – you will use 1 Tablespoon for small to medium loads and 2 Tablespoons for large and heavily soiled loads. You do not need a lot of soap which goes against what laundry soap manufacturers tell us. I store the laundry detergent in a plastic tote with a lid.
For my family of 5 a double batch of this soap lasts us all year!! Here is the cost breakdown where I needed to make a new yearly batch this October 2024. I purchased all of these ingredients from my local Walmart.
2 Boxes of Biz Powder (6.53 each) $13.06
2 Boxes of Baking Soda (3.34 each) $6.68
2 Boxes Washing Soda (5.38 each) $10.76
2 Boxes Borax (5.97 each) $11.94. – photos show Oxy Clean, but this time I opted for some cost savings and have seen no difference**
4 Bars Fels-Napth (1.78 each) $7.12
Total Cost for 1 Year of Laundry Detergent: $49.56 (+tax).
