As I was whipping up a batch of homemade laundry detergent, I realized that it has been a really long time since I’ve talked about making your own detergent and caring for you laundry. When I went back into my archives I saw that this post was originally written in the spring of 2006! Definitely time for a “best of”. Enjoy!
There are a few things you can do to cut costs in the laundry/clothing care department.
First of all you can evaluate whether you are washing things too frequently. The less laundry you do the less water, energy, detergent, softener and time you use. Do you wash your clothing everytime you wear it? Personally, other than socks and underclothes, I take a look at each piece of clothing when I take it off at night (or sometimes the next morning) to see if it actually got dirty during the day. Most of the time all that sweaters, slacks/jeans etc need is to be aired out before being put back in the closet or dresser. I keep hangers on the knobs of our high dresser and anything that is going to be used again for another day I hang up overnight to “air out”. The additional benefit to this is that it prevents garments from becoming a wrinkled mess from sitting in a pile on the floor (which was my prefered method of clothing storage back in my highschool and college days).
Are you taking prompt care of the clothes that you have? A habit I developed when the kids were just babies was to keep a stain stick right in the laundry basket (something that has fallen by the wayside since they got mobile-toddlers + stain stick=mess) then I could treat stains as soon as I took the clothes off of the kids-most everything washed right out as long as it was treated promptly. (a side note-I am a mean mommy who does not allow my kids to drink anything dyed purple or red-those colors NEVER come out)
Also a few years back I started keeping a small sewing kit on top of my fridge. It is a kids zippered pencil case I picked up for pennies at the thrift store. Inside are 3 spools of thread (white, black and white button thread) a seam ripper, a small pair of scissors, a few safety pins, a thimble and a piece of cardboard with three threaded needles pushed through it. Now when I fold laundry (in my den) and I notice a loose button or a seam that is starting to rip, I just set the garmet aside and that night watching TV I make the repairs. It is amazing how much more likely I am to fix things when I have all the equipment right on hand instead of having to dig it out of my craft/sewing area.
Do you use a clothes line? Not using the dryer in the summer can be a big saver in electricity. This house is the first we’ve had with a clothes line, and I hung out most of the clothes all summer. Two extra benefits are that it smells wonderful, and the sun naturally bleaches out a lot of stains. If you feel that towels and jeans are too stiff when dried outside, you can always throw them in the dryer for just a few minutes to “fluff” them. I have read of folks who hang all their stuff inside on drying racks during the winter, but haven’t gone that far myself.
Speaking of the dryer-you don’t have to buy dryer sheets. I bought a huge bottle of the cheapest fabric softener I could find about 2 years ago (less than $2 for the bottle) I bought some sponges from the dollar store (4 per pkg) and cut two of them up into 8 pieces each. I soak the pieces of sponge in a mixture of about 1 part softener to 8 parts water. When I throw my laundry in the dryer I squeeze out a sponge until it is just damp and throw it in with the laundry. When I fold the laundry I take the dry sponge and throw it back in the mixture. I’ve read that some folks like to put their mix in a spray bottle and either spray it on a washcloth and throw it in, or else just spray it onto the laundry.
Are you using too much detergent? Have you actually read the box to see how much you are supposed to use for each load? A lot of times the scoops they give you are larger than what you need for a load of laundry. The manufacturer wants you to use up the detergent faster and come back to buy more. You can experiment with using less detergent until you find the smallest amount you need to still make a load clean. Then take a permenant marker and mark your scoop. Personally I don’t use this tip, because for the last 2 years I have been making my own detergent.
Now I know making your own detergent sounds extreme and difficult, but it really isn’t. I make the powdered type. There are only 3 ingredients.
1 Cup Grated Soap *
1/2 Cup Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
1/2 Cup Borax
Mix together and use 1 Tablespoon per load, 2 Tablespoons if it is a really soilded load.
*I chop mine up into chunks w/ a knife and throw it in the food processor. Then I put it in a roasting pan on the top of the entertainment center for a day or two to dry out again, then into the food processor again to make a very fine powder. Actually the powder is so fine that I put a damp kitchen towel over the food processor while blending, and let it settle for a minute or so before opening so I don’t breathe in soap powder. This extra is just personal preference, and not necessary-many folks just use it grated up and mix the powder well before measuring out each load.
This laundry soap really works well, and YES-you only need a tablespoon. I use it right in cold water and have never had a problem with it dissolving. An added benefit-you avoid a lot of the dyes/perfumes etc that cause people with allergies problems. Isn’t it nice to know exactly what is going into the product you are using?
I usually use “Zote” (a mexican laundry soap) for the soap-available for less than a dollar a bar at the Dollar General stores. I have also used Ivory, and have heard of people using all sorts of soap, to include those little bars you get for free from hotels 🙂 Many recipes specify Fels Naptha, but I haven’t ever found it for sale locally. Borax is available in most grocery stores for about $5 a box. (maybe cheaper!) Washing Soda is made by Arm & Hammer and sometimes difficult to find. I will let you all know where to find it in the Binghamton/Norwich area. I moved here in March, have made every batch of laundry soap I have used since, and only just finished up the box of washing soda that I purchased 6 months before my move for about $2.50.
A pkg of Tide is $9.47 for 22 loads on Drugstore.com. That is about $.43 a load.
So for the math for a load of laundry with homemade detergent (rounding down):
Borax is $5 for 76 oz, at 16 oz a cup, for 1/2 C:
$5 / (76/(16*2))= $.55 per one half cup portion
Washing Soda is $2.50 for 55 oz, at 16 oz a cup, for 1/2 C:
$2.50 (55/(16*2))= $.36 per one half cup portion
Zote Soap is $1 a bar
So that is $1.91 for a batch of laundry soap that is approx 2 cups (or 32 TBS). Lets assume that all of your loads are very soiled and require 2TBS each (or 16 loads from that batch). That ends up at about $.12 a load compared to the $.43 for the Tide.
There are also versions of this recipe available to make liquid laundry soap-which apparently comes out more like a gel. Personally I think powdered is less messy and takes up less room, but if you are interested in the liquid you can find a recipe HERE.
That’s it for Laundry/Clothing Care. Hope this has given you some good ideas.
Annie Jones says
I often make my own laundry soap using that same recipe. I use the Fels-Naptha because I love the way it smells and don’t like the way Zote smells. But that’s just a preference. Like you, I’ve never had to use more than a tablespoon and have never had trouble getting it to dissolve in cold water.
Pam says
I’m curious — does this “fade” you clothes any?
Kate says
HI
great post. I have reduced my weekly washing like you said by wearing clothes for longer. I find that if you wear a light tee shirt under neath your clothes it keeps your outside clothes much cleaner for longer.
jbettin says
I’ve started making my own laundry soap as well. A quick note on your price calculation, though: in general, “a pint’s a pound the world around”, so one cup of borax or washing soda is roughly half a pound, not one pound as you’ve figured here. To check this, I actually weighed a cup of borax, and it’s about 7 oz/cup. Washing soda’s closer to 9 oz/cup.
The recipe I’ve been using is actually equal parts of grated-up soap, washing soda, borax, and baking soda. Using half a bar of Zote, which is cheaper than Fels Naphtha, I can make a 4-cup batch for $1.78. At 1 T per load, that’s 2.8 cents per load, or half the cost of even Wind Fresh.
Amy Gibson Thomas says
If you traded the grated soap for “soap flakes” you would have a genuine old-fashioned recipe, and and it would be a lot easier to make. When I was growing up, the standard was “Ivory Flakes” in a box, and they were quite economical. Alas, they were discontinued years ago. Does anyone know a domestic source for soap flakes? Dri-Pak, a brand from England, is available online, but it’s $10/lb. Compared to ~$4 for an equivalent weight in bar soap, this doubtless defeats the purpose.
Also, be aware that you are making SOAP, not a form of the synthetic detergents marketed for laundry. Detergents have additives for a reason, many of them addressing shortcomings in soap. In particular, soap does not clean well in hard water.
Many companies sell “melt and pour” soap bases for crafty types to rebatch into their fancy soaps. I wonder if homemade laundry detergent would be easier to make with melted soap base, and what the relative cost would be?
Lastly, you can determine how much store-bought detergent you really *need* per load. The package directions ask for way too much.
Stephanie says
I’ve been making my laundry soap like this for about a year now thanks to Jenn. And this winter just tried your tip with the liquid fabric softener. Works great!
Anonymous says
Thanks Annette
Anonymous says
I have seen this before, and while it has its merits, I have always wondered why when comparing laundry detergent prices, bloggers choose one of the most expensive places to buy detergent. Everyone compares prices from Drugstore.com. (Plus it appears to be old information as they no longer carry a 22 load pkg. of Tide for $9.47) Even so, I would never pay that much for detergent so using that for a comparison is like saying I saved $4,000 by buying a Timex instead of a watch at Gumps.
I can get a 32 oz./ use bottle of All at Safeway on sale for $3.99. Using coupons I regularly can get a bottle for 2.99.
My clothing gets clean using 1/2 to 1/4 of the recommended amt. so I spend 4 cents or less a load.
Lisa
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
Annie-Glad it works for you too.
Pam-I haven’t noticed any fading. If anything I would think that the line drying would be more responsible for any fading, rather than the soap, but that is just a guess.
Kate-good point about the T-shirt!
Jbettin-I did my calculations assuming the oz to be a volume measurement, not a a weight. So there are 16 fluid oz in a cup, and therefore 1/2 a cup would be 8oz. That may have been an error, but that is how I was thinking of it.
AGT-some of the older recipes call for soap flakes, but I never could find any. Good points on the others.
Stephanie & Annette-Thanks! Glad it helps.
Lisa-I used Drugstore.com because it was convenient. Also, as I stated this was a “best of” repost-the original article was published in 2006, so I’m not surprised that they don’t carry the same exact size and price anymore. I’ll address the cost issue with another repost of an article I wrote about just that.
Vanessa says
When using homemade laundry soap do I need to use warm water to wash my clothes?
I really enjoy using cold water detergents on colours, whats the difference?
Thanks for the great suggestions!
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
Vanessa~I’ve always just used cold water with this laundry soap-but you’ll have to try for yourself and see what you think.
Alisha says
Anyone know of homemade stain removers? I go through about a bottle of shout each week for the kids’ clothes.
Alisha says
Okay… and as for vinegar as fabric softener… does it matter which kind you buy?
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
Alisha-For the HE washers I seem to remember folks saying just put the powder in the same place you would put it if you had storebought powder. But I don’t have an HE washer, so I can’t say definitively. For the stain removers, I have a soak that works well and will put together a reader’s question with some ideas for you. Lastly-the vinegar should just be the cheapest white vinegar you can buy at the store. Usually they sell it in those big jugs by the pickles or something-near me it’s like $2 or $3 for the gallon. Good luck & enjoy making your own laundry soap!