Recipe: Yet Another Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe

About 3 years ago, I noticed George and Camille began having dry scaly spots on their arms. It was winter, so I hit them up with olive oil but it didn't go away. Because I had been feeling uneasy about the chemicals in our laundry soap since George's birth (what was my baby breathing into his poor, underdeveloped lungs?!) I used this as an excuse to change their body wash and our laundry soap.

After talking to a neighbor, I switched the kids to California Baby and bought Charley's Soap on Amazon. Overall I was generally pleased with how it worked, although our clothes did smell "sour" every once in awhile. We never bought the 100 dollar giant box of soap, opting instead to buy the small jugs in sets of two. One 80 load container would only last 4-6 weeks. Yikes!

I finally got fed up with spending 12-15 dollars every month on laundry soap. About a month ago, we ran out so I got off my butt and bought the three items needed to make homemade laundry soap.

All of the items were bought at my local Wal-Mart and dollar store. (Cha-ching!) Everything but the dollar store items cost about $4/each. I spent as much as I would on an 80 load container of Charley's Soap but it made 3+ batches of laundry soap.

1 bar of Fels Napa OR Kirks Coconut Soap. (The former is found with laundry soap, the latter with regular soaps)
1 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 cup Borax
1 cup Charley's Soap Laundry Booster (this is optional. More on this later!)
A funnel
A container with a lid. (I found a wide mouth plastic jar at the dollar store)

In a large food processor or by hand, shred the bar soap. When that is done, take off the shredding attachment and add in the metal blade. Chop the soap a bit, then slowly pour in the Borax and Super Washing Soda. (This is where the funnel comes in. It was easier to pour it through the small tube on the food processor.) Add in the Hard Water powder. Blitz for a few moment. Then, using the funnel, pour it into your container.

I took a sharpie and wrote "Laundry Soap. Use 1-2 TB depending on the soil level" on the front. I shake it every so often before I scoop out some to use. (I use an old Charley's Soap scoop.) I use vinegar for my fabric softener and that hasn't changed.

For 12 dollars (not including the items from the dollar store) I made 3 batches of soap. I have enough Borax and Super Washing Soda left to make another 3 or so batches. I will just have to buy more bars of soap. That's 15 dollars  and at least six batches of soap before I have to buy more Borax and Super Washing Soda! (This does not count the Charley's Booster, which I had on hand.)

Now, about the Borax. I go back and forth as to whether Borax is safe for the environment. However, because we have super hard water, I felt like I had to use it in the laundry soap or our clothes would not get clean. That's also the reason I used the Charley's Laundry Booster. I had bought it when I used their soap and had it on auto-ship via Amazon. I have 3 jars of it, so it should last me a long time!

Oh and how long does this take? Well, from the time I pull the dish pan that I keep the powders and funnels in off the shelf, to when I clean up, put the food processors parts to soak in the sink and stick everything back in the laundry room... ten minutes. With interruptions.

Cheap and easy and quick. Works for me!