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You are here: Home / Naturally Frugal Living / Homemade Laundry Soap

Homemade Laundry Soap

September 3, 2015 by Jody 8 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.
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Are you curious about creating your own homemade laundry soap, but not sure if you will love it? Maybe you just don’t have the space for a 5 gallon bucket to cover a years worth of clean laundry. If either of those are the case, then this small batch laundry soap recipe is the perfect solution for you! You can try out a small batch of this Citrus Fresh Laundry Soap to see how you like it. If you want to make a larger batch of DIY laundry soap in the future, you can double, triple, or even quadruple this recipe.

Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe and Tutorial: You can make a small batch of this  DIY laundry soap or a large batch. Cleans well and has a lovely citrus scent.

Another reason I like to make homemade laundry soap in small batches is so I can switch up the scents. We may use lavender and lemongrass in one batch, citrus oils the next, or a lemon basil combination in another batch.  The DIY Citrus Fresh Laundry Soap recipe below  is my favorite recipe! I have experimented with many combination for laundry soap, but this is my favorite because it cleans clothes so well -from my husband uniforms to the kids play clothes and it smells delicious!

I love using essential oils not only to add scent, but also for their deodorizing, antimicrobial, and antibacterial properties as well.  This combination smells like the sunshine that permeates your laundry when you hang it outdoors: fresh and clean.

Homemade Laundry Soap

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 bar Fels Naptha Soap
  • 1 cup Super Washing Soda
  • 1/2 cup Baking soda
  • 1 cup Borax
  • 1 cup OxyClean type powder
  • 15 drops wild orange essential oil
  • 15 drops lemon essential oil

Homemade Laundry Soap

Instructions:

1. Grate Fels-Naptha with a hand grater. You do not have to make it as fine as I did- I just like the way this powdery consistency mixes and melts better.

Homemade Laundry Soap2. Layer half your ingredients in a quart sized mason jar including the essential oils. Close the lid and shake well to combine. Add the remaining ingredients and shake again. You can also stir with a wooden spoon to mix .

Homemade Laundry Soap

To use: Add 2 tablespoons beneath running water in your washer.

This recipe is simple to double, triple or even quadruple if you want to keep it in a larger container and make less often.

More Homemade Cleaning Products

How to Make Homemade Swiffer Pads and Solution

How to Make Homemade Air Freshener Spray

How to Make Homemade Furniture Polish

DIY Laundry Stain Remover

Naturally Frugal Tip: Homemade Carpet Cleaners and Stain Removers

 

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Comments

  1. Maggie says

    March 10, 2018 at 9:21 am

    I am curious about the reason you used a 1/2 bar of Soap VS all of it? The majority of DIY powder laundry soap use a whole bar of soap.

    Reply
    • amber says

      May 1, 2018 at 11:05 am

      I think it’s because a full bar is in the recipe when the recipe is doubled. So when I make a batch using 2 cups washing soda, 2 cups borax etc. Then I find a full bar is required.

      Reply
  2. Denise says

    May 22, 2017 at 4:45 am

    I make my own laundry detergent similar to yours but leave out the borax. I was getting a powdery residue on my clothes. Then I read that Borax doesn’t dissolve well in cold water.

    Reply
  3. MPaula says

    February 10, 2017 at 5:16 pm

    I have a front load washer and cannot add soap while it is running. I would have to either put it in soap dispenser, which dumps onto the clothes immediately or put it directly on top of the load. The machine adjusts the amount of water to the amount in it. I overfilled it once and the machine would not operate until I removed some things.
    I think I have everything except Fels Naptha.

    Reply
  4. Lynn says

    April 28, 2016 at 5:07 pm

    Can this powder be used in an HE machine?

    Reply
  5. Pam says

    January 24, 2016 at 3:05 pm

    Is it supposed to suds up?

    Reply
    • Alea Milham says

      January 24, 2016 at 4:47 pm

      It does create very many bubbles.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 10 Different Uses for Borax Powder says:
    June 27, 2019 at 3:16 pm

    […] Borax, like the kind from 20 Mule Team, is a white powder frequently used in homemade laundry detergent. […]

    Reply

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Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.

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