Have you ever had one of those weeks, or months, where you keep reminding yourself to put laundry
detergent on the shopping list on your fridge and you just…don’t? And then you have 800 loads of
laundry, it’s summer so the children have been playing in the stream and their clothes are covered in
mud, you wiped the dog’s feet off with a few towels and had a major spill in the kitchen, bathroom,
garage, wherever…and now it seems like every single piece of cloth in your house needs to be
laundered immediately. But, alas. There’s nothing but dish soap and shampoo in the house. Yes? Me
too. In addition to that particular situation, there have been times where there was just zero money to
buy $12 liquid laundry detergent. I mean…$12?! Egads. Also, it hasn’t escaped my attention that
laundry detergents have at least one ingredient that is considered toxic or hazardous. Toxic Chemicals
Found In Common Scented Laundry Products, Air Fresheners — ScienceDaily Ummmm…no thanks.
Well, thank goodness for homemade laundry soap.
I originally learned how to make this from The Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn (pronounced
Decision) back in the early 1990s when I was hand washing and line drying cloth diapers and trying to
save money like mad to buy a house in the country, and I try to keep some of it around just in case of
an apocalypse. You know, like now?
Anyway, you can make this recipe with or without borax and with or without Fels Naptha soap. I have
used grated Ivory and Zote. Others have used Dr. Bronner’s bar soap with good results.
Hmm…you might be able to use this as a grammar school level chemistry lesson. And math! And
history! I mean, every child needs to know the history of laundering; it actually is fascinating. I
recommend the show “Historical Laundry Part 1: Who Did The Laundry In The 18th Century?”, on the
Townsends channel on YouTube.
Rub-a-dub-dub.
Laundry Soap
Recipe courtesy of Heather Dessinger
Equipment
• cheese grater
• food processor
•
Ingredients
• 6 C. washing soda
• 3 bars soap, grated
• 100-150 drops lemon essential oil
To Make Homemade Laundry Detergent
• Grate the soap with a cheese grater.
• Add the grated soap, washing soda and essential oil (if using) to your food processor.
• Blend until you have a fine powder. You may want to lay a dish towel over the top of your food
processor to prevent a fine mist of powder from floating into the air. Also, let it settle a bit before
opening the container or the powder will float onto your kitchen counter.
• Pour into a clean, airtight container.
To Use Your Homemade Laundry Detergent (Top Loading Machine)
Add 3 tablespoons laundry detergent per load. If you are washing in cold water, dissolve it in hot water
before adding it in. I prefer to start each load with a little hot water to dissolve and then put my laundry
in.
• Optional Step: Add 1/2 cup vinegar to the fabric softener compartment.
• Optional Step: Put wool dryer balls in your dryer, if you use one, rather than a dryer sheet