Make Your Own Laundry Soap

Not as hard as it sounds! It's actually quite easy. I got a recipe originally from a regular poster on the breastfeeding.com message boards. I then modified it by recommendation from another poster and necessity and laziness.

First here is the original recipe as I first saw it.

"Bucket of Boogers"

Or, my homemade laundry soap recipe. This makes enough for 64 loads and costs a little over a dollar to make, so about two cents per load. This is a really good detergent -- it cleans well, rinses completely out, and leaves clothes soft and smelling fresh instead of chemical-ish. It does not suds up much while washing. And it bears an unfortunate resemblance to a bucket full of boogers.

1 bar Octagon soap (found in the laundry aisle), grated
3/4 cup washing soda (Arm & Hammer is the most common brand)
3/4 cup borax (20 Mule Team is the most common brand)
1 medicine dropper of tea tree oil

Put the grated soap in a saucepan with 6 cups water and heat on medium-low, stirring occassionally, until it is melted. Add the soda and borax and stir until dissolved. Add the tea tree oil.

Pour 1 quart of hot water into a bucket. Add the dissolved soap and stir. Add 1.5 gallons of water and stir again. It can be used immediately, but it will gel up after about 24 hours.

Use 1/2 cup per load.

Most delis (grocery stores, Costco, etc.) get salads and stuff in small white buckets that are just right for this recipe. If you ask nicely, they'll probably give you one.


I modified it in 2 ways.
First, I used Ivory bar soap instead of the Octagon. I believe the Octagon must be green or something giving it a bucket of boogers appearance because mine is milky white. But we have Ivory around here since my husband uses it for daily washing.
Second, I left out the tea tree oil. I have tea tree oil, I use it for skin blemishes and other various things, but I did not want my clothes to smell like it. In fact I didn't want them to smell like anything!

And thanks to these minor adjustments, I can use this homemade brew on my cloth diapers. I literally take a spoon from the kitchen like a cereal spoon or soup spoon whatever and scoop out a bit of the watery part of the mixture and put it in the wash with the diapers. Works great and isn't clogging them at all.

To get started I needed to get the bucket to store the soap. I went ahead and bought a large 5 gallon Tupperware type tub with a lid from Walmart, cost less then $3 for the cheapest. And it fills the thing to the top when done!

I also got a second grater, not necessary but for some reason I didn't want to be grating my soap on the same grater I use to grate my cheese. I'm weird I guess. I mean, what's cleaner than soap!

Then the Borax, easy, on the laundry isle in any store really.

I already had the Ivory, but it seriously costs like 89 cents for 3 bars or something ridiculous like that.

The washing soda was another story. I couldn't find it at my regular Walmart so I decided to start calling stores. No one seemed to know what I was talking about but they were usually nice enough to check for me. I thought I'd be calling forever then I found this on about.com which lists a phone number for Arm and Hammer (1-800-524-1328). You call and run through a menu that will tell you the name and address of stores near you that sold your product in the last few months. What a genius idea! I suggest you try it first before venturing out for the ingredients to make sure the store you plan on visiting will have it just to save yourself a trip.

I also cleaned out one each a one gallon and a half gallon milk jugs to measure my water with.

Once I had all these things I made the soap. I stuck my baby in his Exersaucer, which he loves. And I got going! Grated soap, melted it in pot (I also set aside the pot for use only on this) - this part takes the longest. So while it was working I got everything else measured out and set aside ready to go. My baby actually got tired of his Saucer before the soap finished melting so I held him for the last few pieces. Make sure it all melts completely or you may get some crazy lumps of soap that will throw off the balance of the batch. The whole thing took about an hour.

Here is a pic of my bucket:


To use it, I keep it on the floor for now, right next to my washing machine, I scoop out a half a coffee cup per load (expect the diapers) and so far I am loving it. Everything gets perfectly cleaned and smells like nothing!

I also use a scent free fabric softener. I used to love the smell of fabric softener until I had a baby and started using free and clear soaps and things to make sure he didn't have breakouts and now I cannot stand the smell of laundry soap or softeners! If you like that kind of thing, use the original recipe with the oil and all. I DO NOT recommend you yo use it on your diapers! I don't think it would work. Or you could try it on a couple and see, that's how I started. If it does work, do let us know.