As I mentioned in this post, I’ve been working on making most of the household cleaners we use myself, to both cut down on plastic waste and so I know what I’m putting on/around my kids.
There are a number of different recipes out there for making your own laundry soap, and the recipe below was not the first one I tested. The first batch I tried included Borax, but after reading up on Borax, I decided that it was an ingredient I didn’t want to include in my household cleaning products. (This is also the most likely reason that the dishwasher detergent recipe I used didn’t work well. Borax can really make a difference!)
I tested multiple laundry detergent recipes before landing on one I liked, and ultimately found the right recipe that makes a giant batch with minimal time commitment. Also, all the included ingredients have an A rating on the Environment Working Group website.
You don’t need a whole host of items to make your own laundry soap, and you can buy pretty much everything on Amazon for cheap and use the whole thing in one go. If you’re interested in making your own laundry detergent, below is the recipe I use, with a full linked ingredient list at the bottom of the post for shopping ease.
Recipe:
Laundry Detergent
55 oz / 3 lbs 7 oz super washing soda (one box)
64 oz / 4 lbs baking soda (one box)
4 bars castile soap
3 lbs OxiClean Baby or OxiClean Free (one container)
32 oz / 2lbs epsom salts (one bag) optional, acts as a softener
- Use a cheese grater to grate castile soap, or cut into pieces and add to a food processor with baking or washing soda then pulse to combine.
- Stir together all ingredients to combine and use 1 tablespoon per load — no softener needed.
Shopping List:
Laundry Soap:
Washing Soda
Baking Soda
Bar Castile Soap
OxiClean Baby or OxiClean Free
Epsom Salts
Storage:
Large glass canister (for storing laundry soap — I also store excess washing soda, baking soda, and Epsom salt in these, since they come in a set of four)
Tablespoon scoop
Old-school label maker (if you’re extra type-A like me)