Category Archives: Homemade Cleaners

Did you know there’s a ton of chemicals in commercial baby wash and baby shampoos. “Natural” products are not much better and the organic ones can cost a small fortune. As a new mom,  I was warned by nurses in the hospital about the chemicals in common baby products.

I knew there had to be a better way and with a little homework, I created this recipe and our girl LOVES it! Plus it’s super easy and cheap to make!

What you will need:

• 1/4 cup Liquid Castile Soap (non-toxic & non-irritating)
• 1/2 tbsp Vegetable Glycerin (natural moisturizer)
• 1/2 tbsp Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil, or Almond Oil – (natural moisturizer) – We’re using coconut oil.
• 1 tsp Aloe Vera Juice – (moisturizes & soothe skin)
• 5 – 7 drops of Essential Oils – (natural, non-toxic fragrance & soothes skin)
• distilled or filtered water
• 1 soap dispenser – We use 6.75 fl oz foaming soap dispensers (old Bath & Body Works hand soap bottles, but any soap dispenser will do!

Staying clean during the apocalypse has never been easier. If the zombies come, at least you will smell good and maybe even have something to barter with. Make 34 years worth of laundry soap for just pennies!

Supplies Needed:

• 1/2 Cup of Your Powder Laundry Detergent

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE POWDER LAUNDRY DETERGENT

• Large Pot
• Water
• Large Spoon or Paint Stick for stirring or hand electric mixer
• 2 Gallon Bucket with Lid*
• Liquid dispensing facet (Highly recommended but optional)**

*These frosting buckets are food grade and comes with an air tight seal-able lid. You can acquire them from any local bakery for FREE, just ask for them!

MAKE A LIQUID LAUNDRY SOAP DISPENSING BUCKET – SUPER EASY

I’ve been doing this for many years, and trust me while it may take up some storage space this is by far the best storage method and you will never have to waste time refilling small jars or remaking batches again!

Directions:

1. Add 4 cups of water and 1/2 cup of powder laundry soap to a pot.
2.  Put the heat on med-high, & stir until completely melted – (10 mins)  
3. Fill up your 2 gallon bucket halfway with hot water.
4. Pour in the melted detergent mixture.
5. Add whatever essential oils you like, 5- 10 drops (optional)
6. Fill bucket to the top with warm water and stir.
7. Snap on the lid and let set for 24 hours to gel up. It will be solid.
8. Stir to the consistency you desire. Use electric hand mixer if preferred. You may need to stir it again in a few days if it solidifies.
9. If you using another dispensing container, pour into preferred containers and seal for storage.
10. All done! Enjoy!

Note: Your liquid detergent once set will be completely solid. For a smoother consistency stir it to your liking or use an electric hand mixer. Once stirred your soap will be the consistency of a slime like gel.

Want your soap to go even farther? Some people prefer to dilute it even more at this step (therefor turning it into 5 gallons, if so you’ll need another bucket). They do this by filling the new bucket/container halfway with the gel & then the other half with water. Do the same for the other bucket, then stir. You can do this if you prefer, our family does not. We feel it provides a stronger clean to not dilute it any further.

How Much to Use:

If using 1/2 cup of liquid per load of this large batch recipe in liquid form it will render 80 loads of laundry! The powder form breakdowns to less than a penny per load or $.007 per load and this liquid recipe goes even farther than that!

For two of us, we average about 3 loads of laundry per week which means that this batch of liquid laundry soap (2 1/2 gallons) will last us a whooping 26 weeks or about 6 months! And that is using only 1/2 cup from our large batch of powder! If we made all of our powder laundry soap into liquid using this method, it would be 34 cups of powder which would will render 5,440 loads of laundry! At 3 loads per weeks, that’s an amazing 1,813 weeks or over 34 1/2 YEARS worth of laundry soap! Keep in mind that our initial investment was only less than $10 – $15 if you made a dispensing bucket! Now THAT is darn impressive!

I will be documenting our process and see how long it last! We are expecting our daughter in July of this year, so let’s see if I have enough laundry soap to last until she goes off to college or at least high school!!! Challenge Accepted!!

Making your own homemade laundry soap is cheap, easy and long lasting! We’ve used this recipe for years and I can vouch to it’s potency! I garden and raise our flock of chickens and ducks. My husband is a rock crawling Jeeper that spends his free time fixing and modifying jeeps. Needless to say, we both get dirty… a lot. This soap definitely take care of all of our detergent needs and smells great!

One large batch (see recipe below) will last us YEARS! We then take 1 cup of our powdered detergent and turn it into 2 1/2 gallons of our liquid laundry soap which makes it go even farther.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR LIQUID LAUNDRY SOAP RECIPE

High Efficiency (HE), Septic Safe & Baby Approved

This detergent is high efficiency (HE) safe, because of it’s low suds. This is also the best laundry soap to use with septic tanks because it contains zero phosphates and zero fillers that cause commercial powder detergents to clog lines. It’s also completely non-toxic so it will not harm necessary septic bacteria like toxic detergents and antibacterial soaps. Since it is non toxic it can also be used for even the more sensitive laundry like baby clothes! Regardless of what type of washing machine you have, you can be sure that this laundry soap is great!

What You Will Need

Here’s a quick measurement note so you can figure out how much washing soda and borax you need to buy depending on which size recipe you use. Each box of Washing Soda holds 7 cups and each box of Borax holds 10.5 cups

Small Batch Ingredients (Small Container)

• 2 cup (5 ounces) of shaved bar soap*
• 1/2 cup borax
• 1/2 cup washing soda
• Essential Oils (Optional)

Medium Batch Ingredients (Gallon Container)

• 22 1/2 cups of shredded soap or 4 bars of Zote (14.1 ounce) soap
• 8 1/2 cups borax
• 8 1/2 cups washing soda

Large Batch Ingredients (1 – 2  1/2 Gallon Bucket)

• 56 1/2 cups of shredded soap or 10 bars of Zote (14.1 ounce) soap
• 25 1/2 cups borax
• 25 1/2 cups washing soda

Apocalypse Size Large Batch  (2 – 2  1/2 Gallon Buckets)

In emergency disaster some supplies may not be accessible. If you want to stockpile homemade laundry soap now or just don’t want to worry about doing it for a really, really, really long time. This extra large batch can last a couple of two easily 20 years or more. If converted into the liquid laundry soap it will last well into the apocalypse!

• 112 cups of shredded soap or 20 bars of Zote (14.1 ounce) soap
• 51 cups borax
• 51 cups washing soda

*Use whatever soap you prefer. Some suggested choices include a homemade laundry bar, Dr. Bronner’s, Kirk’s Castile Soap, Ivory, ZOTE  (white or pink), or Fels-Naptha. We are using white Zote soap for this batch and have had good luck using Fels-Naptha soap in the past. We usually go with whatever is cheapest.

Supplies Needed

• Cheese grater (some use a food processor)
• Large mixing bowl (for holding shredded soap)
• Container or buckets with lids for finished detergent*
• Stirring utensil or paint stick (for larger batches)

If planning on making a medium – extra large batch of liquid laundry soap consider making a dispensing bucket. Click link below for instructions.

MAKE A LIQUID LAUNDRY SOAP DISPENSING BUCKET – SUPER EASY

For medium to extra large batches of laundry detergent, we recommend storing the laundry soap in a two gallon 1/2 frosting bucket. If you are planning on making some of the powder into a liquid you will need one extra bucket to store the liquid laundry soap you intend to make.

*These frosting buckets are food grade and comes with an air tight seal-able lid. You can acquire them from any local bakery for FREE, just ask for them!

Directions

1. Use a cheese grater to shred up bars of soap and place in a large mixing bowl.
2. In your final storage container or bucket, mix one cup of each ingredient (soap, borax & washing soda) at a time and then repeat the process until the recipe is complete.
3. Stir together thoroughly for several minutes.
4. Store in a sealed container (with a small scoop if preferred)
5. Enjoy your new laundry soap!
6. Print out and tape recipe instructions to your container for both liquid & powder detergents (optional)

Use 1 Tsp per small load or 2 Tsp for large or heavily soiled loads. If you have really hard water, you may need to use more.

Lesson Learned: After turning on your washing machine, add laundry soap to the bottom of the washer. It will not dissolve properly if added to the top. You can also add it to your powder dispenser if you have one that pushes it out with water.

Cost Breakdown & Saving Money

One large batch (see recipe above) will last us YEARS! We make into a liquid detergent that makes it last 10 times longer than the powder form and the money saved speaks for itself!  Below is the total cost breakdown for the large batch recipe!

To make this the absolutely cheapest laundry soap available, contact all the manufacturers and ask for coupons. I contacted Borax and they sent me 3 coupons good for 3 free full size boxes! You should have no problem getting the coupons, I’ve written to them several times and they are always more than happy to send out some! You can also check online for coupons.

Here’s a breakdown of the money spent (for a medium batch):

•  Zote Soap – Available at Dollar Store for $50 each. (4 Bars)

• Borax – Reg. $3.49 – Totally Free! (3 Boxes)

• Super Washing Soda – Reg. $3.49, $.50 off each. (3 Boxes)

Total Spent: $11.97 plus tax!

For comparison’s sake, a jumbo container of Tide at Amazon.com costs $28.99 for 96 loads, or a cost of $0.30 a load. Using the medium batch recipe, I will have some of the Borax & Washing Soda left over which is why it will be less than $10 for the entire recipe.

Cost Per Load Breakdown

If using 1 tsp per load of the concentrated powder form per load and use the entire medium batch recipe it will render 1,896 loads of laundry! That breakdowns to less than a penny per load or $.005 per load! For two of us, we average about 3 loads of laundry per week which means that this large batch of laundry soap in powder form will last us a whooping 632 weeks or 12 YEARS!

If that isn’t impressive enough, stay tuned for our recipe to turn 1 cup of our powdered laundry soap into 2 1/2 gallons of our liquid soap! At that rate you will definitely have enough to last well into the apocalypse and perhaps give you something necessary to barter with. Enjoy!