Monday, March 9, 2009

Making your own laundry detergent

A number of people have asked how I make my laundry detergent. This is the bones of a recipe I’ve seen floating around the Internet, with slight modifications.

Why go to the trouble?

First, it’s hardly any trouble at all. Start to finish, it takes about half an hour to 45 minutes; and I tend to be slow and overly careful, so it may take you a much shorter time.

Second, the time is well worth the money you save. This makes about two gallons of detergent, and it costs a whopping $3.10. And that’s because I use expensive soap.

You will need:
* Borax, found on the laundry aisle of most grocery stores.
* Washing soda. This one's tougher, and do not confuse it with baking soda, even though it is made by Arm & Hammer. I find it on the laundry aisle of my local King Soopers, but that's the only place I can find it. Soapsgonebuy.com carries it, but it's pricey; Google it and see if you can come up with a local source before you order it.
* A bar of soap. I like Dr. Bronner's, which drives the price up but I save overall so I justify it. You can use Fels-Naptha, also on the laundry aisle; Kirk's Castile, which I've used too; or Ivory if you are so inclined. The main thing to avoid is moisturizing soaps (for example, Dove).
* A pot. I have a really mangy soap pot dedicated for the purpose (also for making soap and for keeping a pot of water on the wood stove).
* A cheese grater.
* A bucket or bin with a lid capable of holding as much as three gallons. I got mine at Kmart for three bucks.





Start out by grating your bar of soap. Be careful as you get to the end; I hope I don't need to tell you. Right after we shot this photo, I grated my finger, which I had burned earlier that day. I didn't enjoy that.



Put your fun little soap shavings in the soap pot along with six cups of water. Melt them together on medium to medium-low heat, stirring continuously until the soap is melted. It kind of looks like toenails as it gets to the end. Pretend you're the bad guy in a fairy tale, making something "delectable" for lost children in the woods. Cackle. It will make your kids laugh.



Once the soap and water mix is running clear, pour in a cup of washing soda and a cup of borax. Add essential oils if you like them -- I didn't this time because I was using lavender soap, but feel free.




Keep stirring on medium to medium-low heat until the powders are dissolved and there's no grainy "spoon-feel" at all. You will notice it thickening considerably.



Add four cups of hot water to your bucket (which is what you'll use to store it), pour your cooked mixture in, and stir. I'm not sure what the science behind this is, why you need to pour the hot water in first, but the first directions I got said to do this and so I stick with it. Stir once the soap's in.



Next, you're going to pour in a gallon and a half of cold water -- I'm guessing this is to stop any "cooking" action this mixture is continuing to do. I use a repurposed 1.5 gallon bottle for this purpose, but any way you want to measure it will do.



And ... that's it. You're done. All there is is the waiting. You can use it immediately, or you can let it sit, and in about a day it will have thickened into a rather thick, gloppy, congealed and kind of fun mass. This photo was taken a couple of hours later and, as you can see, it's already starting to look very different.



To use this, I use a coffee cup and measure anywhere from a half to a full cup, depending on the size and filthiness of the load. It works pretty well, although obviously you don't want to let real stains sit too long without washing because it won't be much help there. And I had to rewash a couple of loads after a stomach bug ripped through the house (hence the minimal posting as of late). But, in general, I have been really pleased with this, and I hope you will be too. Enjoy!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Robin! You're awesome!

Have you tried a powder version of this, or only the liquid? We've been using Charlie's Soap...which runs about $12-$14 for 80 loads, but I'd really like a cheaper alternative.

Kate

Anonymous said...

Oh...and which King Soopers do you get your washing soda from?

Erin said...

Hey Kate,

I have just used the gel. I understand that you can use about a tablespoon of the powder-soap mix, but I am childish enough to enjoy going to the trouble of making, and using, the goo.

I get washing soda at the KS at the corner of Colorado and Yale. Not all of them have it, but if there's one closer to you, you can probably get them to order it.

Have fun!

Sara said...

I've been doing this, too! The recipe I have is far more basic, though not as gooey and fun:

*1 grated bar of soap, melted in enough water to cover it in the pot, poured into...
*2 gallons hot water and...
*2 cups BAKING soda

That's it. It works just as well or better than any detergent I've ever had. (AND my washing machine no longer has that slightly stagnant smell between washings. Bonus feature of the baking soda, I presume.)

By the way, you rule.

Jen said...

Does it go bad after a certain period of time? Not that I do so little laundry, I'm just not quick about it...
thanks for this!
Jen

Erin said...

Sara: Thanks for sharing. I will definitely try your recipe and report back. YOU rule.

Jen: I have not had this go bad, but the trick is to keep it covered. I left some out in an uncovered bucket one time and it got kind of gross-looking. (It's so dry here, it just turned into a crusty glop.) Good luck!

Misty said...

So, do you have a recipe for fabric softener?! :-)

Erin said...

I do have some ideas for fabric softener -- I will put them in a post.

Misty said...

Cool! I'll be watching for it. ;-)

Scavinger said...

Had some trouble finding someone who sells washing soda around here. Lowes Food, Weaver Street, Piggly Wiggly, the co-op, Food Lion... nada. Lots of borax to be found, but no soda.

We ended up ordering some with free shipping from drugstore.com. So perhaps we should have visited some drugstores intstead of grocery stores.

Scavinger said...

Update : My wife found washing soda at Harris Teeter. We normally don't shop there, and on our initial foray we didn't think a fancy place like HT would have it.

We really like using the homemade detergent. It actually seems to work better on food-soiled items too. My son is 1.5 years old, so you know how that goes..

Erin said...

Scavinger: Good to know you were able to find it at HT. It's not easy stuff to find. Now I get ready to figure out a Chicago source. Sigh.

Scavinger said...

Update : First, let me thank you again, Robin, for introducing my family to this idea. We just made another batch yesterday.

It works well, but using *enough* is sometimes an issue. I tend to use almost double the amount per load that my wife does, but the loads of laundry that I wash tend to come out smelling cleaner. So I'm estimating that we're somewhat below an order of magnitude cheaper than store-bought, but are still firmly above the 5x mark.

Have you located your supply of materials in Chi-town?

Erin said...

So how much are you using? I fill a coffee mug -- so you're using two? I'll try it and report back.

I HAVE located a source here, and it's cheaper! (hallelujah chorus)

I find it delightful that you do laundry, period. I confess I banned my husband from this chore about 15 years ago (when he inadvertently destroyed a dry-clean-only interview shirt), but I think I am ready to lift the ban.

Scavinger said...

My wife uses about a measuring cup's worth, and I tend to use 1.5 to 2.

And to correct an ambiguity in my previous comment - making our own detergent is about 20% of the cost of buying it, based on our per-load usage.