Homemade Washing Detergent Recipes?

Mine is similar to the one in the post below:

1/3 bar soap (Fels Naphtha, Zote, Ivory)
1/2 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda (not baking soda)
1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax powder

You need a two-gallon bucket (preferably with a top). I use a big kitty litter bucket - well cleaned, of course.

Grate the soap and put it in a saucepan. Add 6 cups of water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax, and stir until they are thoroughly dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups of hot water into the bucket. Add your soap mixture and stir. Then add 1 gallon plus 6 cups (22 cups) more of water, and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours before using it. It will gel, but not solidly; it will look watery, rather like an egg noodle soup.

Use 1/2 cup per load of laundry. It works well for hot, warm, and cold water loads. It is low-sudsing, so don't be disappointed if it doesn't look like the stuff in the detergent commercials.

The thing I've been playing with is that the recipe calls for 1/3 bar of soap. However, soap comes in different sizes and weights. I use 1/3 bar of Zote (because it gives a nice pink color to the product). However, the bars of Fels Naphtha I get are about 1/3 the weight of the Zote bars, so I've been using a full bar when I use that. I'm trying to see how little soap is needed in the mix to get the clothes clean. The jury is still out on that.

This recipe doesn't take too long to make, once you know what you're doing. You just need to make it up in time to let it sit. I have found it gets clothing just as clean as anything I can spend money on at the store. So far I've been able to get all the ingredients from King Soopers/Kroger stores (you may need to look up online to see what their stores in your area are called).

Yes, I use the duggars recipe. I like it a lot. Very similar to Sandy's recipe.

http://duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/home...

http://duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30456/powd...

Wow! Great post! :) I was wondering about this. I've never made washing detergent before. I am delighted to read the postings. Thank you for posting this.

:) I shall have to give this a go!

I, like Katie M., use the Duggar recipe. It is amazing how good the Fels-Naptha soap smells. It's intoxicating! Mine gelled very nicely, and the first thing I tested it with was my stinky musty smelling bath towels, which ERA could never seem to get clean. They don't stink anymore! The whole batch took a whopping 20 minutes to make. I spent more time trying to find containers to put it all in than I did making it. You don't want to keep it in the 5 gallon bucket because unlike commercial detergents, you will not be 'blending' this together and it will seperate a little. I use only 32 oz detergent bottles to keep it in, which I can easily shake before use. I use 1/4 cup in my front load washing machine. Oh, and I did add about 24 drops of tea tree oil to my final product. But honestly, I can't tell. I don't smell it in my finished laundry. I think this is because the detergent washes and rinses out so well.

Sure do! Saves a lot of money! :)

Laundry Detergent
Ingredients:
• 1 bar Dr. Bronner's soap (Or Fels Naptha, or Kirk's)
• 1 1/2 cups Borax
• 1 cup baking soda
• 1 cup washing soda
Directions:
1. Finely grate bar of soap.
2. Mix together until combined.
3. Use 2 tablespoons per full load.

Fabric Softener
Ingredients:
• 6 cups HOT water
• 3 cups white vinegar
• 2 cups Suave conditioner
Directions:
1. Mix conditioner & hot water well, until conditioner is dissolved completely.
2. Add the vinegar, and mix well.
3. Store in a large container {empty fabric softener container, empty large vinegar bottle, etc}
4. Pour into a downy ball… or use approx. 2 tbsp. in the fabric softener spot in your laundry machine… then wash!

I tried making a liquid/gel. Was pretty inconvenient for me. I liked the powder. Very cheap. I stopped b/c I have an aerobic septic system and I was told liquid is best for the system b/c powders don't always dissolve 100% and may cause build-up.

So here's the recipe I used:
1 cup borax (mule team)
1 cup super washing soda (arm&hammer)
1 bar Ivory soap grated (small grate)
1/2 cup oxi clean (any brand)

Mix all ingredients and keep in tuperware. Use 1 or 2 tablespoons per load. Try vinegar in the rinse cycle for a natural fabric softener.