Homemade Laundry Soap

I started out as a hippie, a Janis Joplin singing-Earth- shoe- wearing-sage-burning-hitchhiking-hippie. Then the kids got hungry so I got a job, and went to college, and acquired a long career in nursing. Then the babies grew up and mama decided she was tired of suits and loots and came back to the farm.

Now, after being home full time for over a year, I am slowly, one by one, returning to my hippie roots (with the exception of the hitchhiking: at 52 I am not so likely to score a ride) and eliminating those things that require me to have a full time job. You know what I'm talking about, things that reward you with tons of prestige but require an equal ton of money. Glamorous things like...laundry detergent.

In my past, being able to afford fancy smancy laundry products was a sign of success. The more "products" in someones laundry room the more important they must be, or so I thought. Attend any corporate meeting and spill a dab of mustard on your clothes and instantly 3-4 people will start waving their Max-Force Stain Remover Gel in your face. "Here, try mine!" The speaker would pause while I would dab a strangers wand on my chest while hundreds watched waiting for the magic to appear, for about $6 a product. I always worried that if the item could remove mustard in 1/2 a second what was it doing to my skin under my blouse?

So, I pitched out my stain sticks, pre-wash liquids, stain removal sprays,  laundry detergent powders, laundry detergent gels, fabric softener cloths, fabric softener liquids, and last but not least, my fabric softener balls. And then I did the unthinkable, I started making my own laundry soap.

It wasn't even difficult.

An Internet search will produce many recipes , try a few until you find the best one for you, but feel free to use mine which goes something like this:


One cup finely grated homemade bar soap. Avoid any made with artificial colors or perfumes, or botanicals. May substitute Fels-Naptha Bar Soap
One cup Sodium Teraborate (20 Mule Team Borax)
One cup Sodium Carbonate (Washing Soda)

Mix all together well, a food processor works best. Store in a container with a lid. If you want a little fragrance add a few drops of lemon or lavender ESSENTIAL oil. Now here comes the best past. Are you sitting down? You only need to use one tablespoon for an average load. Not 1/4 cup or 1/2 or even a whole cup as there are no fillers to this laundry soap. If you have really dirty chore clothes like we have on our dairy/beef/pork farm you may need two tablespoons.

The other bonus? No need for fabric softener as the ingredients are natural water softeners in themselves.  There will be no static cling and you clothes will smell...clean. The cost? About 5 cents a load (I bought my washing soda and borax in bulk from SOAP.com)  In addition, this recipe adds no phosphates to your septic or the earth but don't let the lack of suds fool you, the dirty water after each load is proof of its effectiveness.

With Christmas coming up quickly, homemade laundry soap also makes a great gift for a small investment of your finances and your time, and just think of of the space you'll save in your laundry room once you've disposed of all the laundry products that used to hog the shelves in there. You might even have room now for some...laundry.