I’ve heard a lot of frugal-living blogs mention homemade laundry detergent. I’ve heard them say they make it and I’ve heard them say that it’s an unnecessary hassle. I knew I wanted to eventually get around to trying it out for myself but it was pretty far in the back of my mind. Then one day I stumbled across a how-to for a powdered laundry detergent at Debt Free Adventure that was too good not to try immediately.
The recipe Matt gives is only 3 ingredients:
- 1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
- 1/2 cup 10 Mule Team Borax
- 1 bar Ivory soap
To see how to make it for yourself go check out his original post.
I purchased all of the ingredients, made the detergent and then did the cost-breakdown. I was insanely curious. I doubled the batch, which ended up yielding enough for 56 loads of laundry. In bullet points, here is my outcome.
- It was very easy to make, like 5 minutes.
- It was very cheap to make – $1.45 for 56 loads (WOW)
- It is very easy to use – 1 tablespoon per load.
- And … IT WORKS!
My daughter must have known I wanted to give it the real test because she BADLY stained a pair of her jeans playing outside. Both knees and the butt of the jeans were smeared with a very dark grass stain. I wish I took ‘before’ pictures so you could see how terrible they were. The last pair of jeans she did this to are now play jeans. I got most of the stain out but there is still a very faint amount of green on the knees – that was with my old detergent. I did the same as usual, pre-treated the stained areas and then washed them with the regular clothes but used my new detergent. They are completely clean in one try (I will try to treat and wash a stain out up to three time to save a piece of clothing). I couldn’t believe it.
If you are at all interested in this you really should give it a try. You won’t be sorry 
~Updates~
- Instead of regular Ivory soap I started using Ivory with Aloe. It cleans exactly the same but smells really nice.
- I find it VERY helpful to grate the soap with my food processor. Then, leaving the grated soap in there, I remove the grating blade and put the chopping blade in, then add the other ingredients and turn it on. It mixes it and makes it very fine, so that I have no problem at all with the soap dissolving in cold water.
This post is linked in with Tightwad Tuesday at Being Frugal. Head over there to check out some great frugal ideas!
Why I do what I do ~ The other day David was heating up his lunch (leftovers) and Chloe asked him what he was having. He said, “Shepherd’s Pie.” She said, “Oooo, Jeopardy Pie!” That’s right – we watch Jeopardy with our daughter.Have you liked Domestic Cents on Facebook yet?
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Hooray, Nicki! I’m so glad you tried it. I’ve been making my own for a little over 2 years now and won’t ever go back. As you pointed out, it saves A LOT of money, is really quick to make, it works as well as, if not better than the stuff at the store, and best of all, it’s GREEN. It’s green because it doesn’t contain all the toxic chemicals or fragrances found in many laundry detergents. There’s also minimal packaging for the amount of detergent you get.
The only difference in the recipe you use and the one I make is that I use Fels Naptha soap instead of Ivory. I would imagine either one is a good option.
I follow the same recipe and feel as you do: cheap, easy, good results. I’m very pleased!
Awesome work Nicki, glad you like it and glad you got around to making it!
You may be interested in the Easy Homemade Toothpaste article I posted today… go check it out!
Cheers.
.-= Matt Jabs´s last blog ..Homemade Toothpaste Recipe – Easy and Frugal =-.
Me, too! I’ve always wanted to try this!
Where did you find those ingredients? They sound so weird?
I wanna try it!!!
.-= netta´s last blog .."Oh Mr. Sun, Sun…" =-.
@netta – You won’t have any trouble finding them where you are. I had to look at a couple of stores because I live in the boon-docks
Go to Debt Free Adventure to see pictures of what the ingredients look like. That will help you spot them but you should find the Borax and the Super Washing Soda right in the laundry detergent isle at the grocery store. Good luck! 
This looks so super easy to use! Good job and thanks for posting.
The question I have is does it fade your clothes? And also, we have very hard water where we live – would this leave a lot of residue? Would I be able to mix in some Calgon powdered water softener to the detergent or would this detergent work well enough in hard water on its own?
Oh awesome. I gotta try this. I keep wanting to but haven’t done it yet. I’ve heard that store bought detergents have whiteners in them to brighten your whites, but I figure you could add Mrs. Smith’s bluing agent into the water with the homemade stuff, you know? Anyway, thanks for passing this on. I think I’ll do it.
.-= momstheword´s last blog ..DOES ANYBODY EVER READ THESE TITLES ANYWAY? =-.
I love making my soap. My recipe is a little different. I also started adding a generic oxyclean. The Dollar Tree sells it for a buck and I use half a tub (its kinda small) per batch. Helps in my water.
do you use the measurements above? If so, how much of the generic oxiclean are you adding? Thanks.
Yes I do use the measurements above. I don’t add any Oxiclean to it, only the ingredients listed.
Canadian Debt Girl–I have EXTREMELY hard water where I live, and I use a similar recipe. It works great! In fact, on the borax box, it suggests adding borax to your regular laundry detergent to cut hard water!
I have a front loader, and I wash everything but three loads on cold (the exceptions are underwear on warm, towels on warm, and kitchen washcloths and towels on super hot/sterlize with bleach).
Like autumnesf, I also use oxyclean in my mix. It really helps, as we have a lot of extra stains here with five small children (okay, well, really I seem to be just as bad with spills!)
To make this faster, I use the kitchen aid grater attachment to grate my soap. I grate 3 bars at a time and then put the finished batches in canning jars in the cupboard. I have a measuring spoon just for laundry.
That’s the basic recipe that I’ve used too. But instead of Ivory I used Fels Naptha, and that soap was just a bit too strong to breathe. I bet the Ivory would be much nicer.
.-= Rachel´s last blog ..Housekeeping Learned the Hard Way =-.
Fels Naptha is not available in my area, (Pensacola, FL to Mobile AL). I tend to stick to homemade recipes that use alternatives. Ivory seem to work well, though I have noticed some oil spots on my clothes. I now use Colegate Soap bars, available at an old-timey store for $.51 per bar. It is fabulous with heavy soiled clothes.
Samantha´s last [type] ..Look At What Is Fresh For October!
Thank you so much for linking your post to the Laundry Recipe Round-Up!
You did a great job explaining your easy method. It’s sounds simple – and I love simple.
-Lauren
Can these homemade recipes be used in HE machines? I have been reading much about people’s fantastic results with homemade laundry detergent and as a SAHM love the price savings but I have been hesitant to try b/c I don’t know if they are okay for HE machines.
Thanks for any feedback anyone can provide! trish
According to the original recipe from Matt Jabs, it CAN be used in High Efficiency washers! I haven’t tried it myself though, has anyone else?
Powdered tends to clump in my front load. It isn’t recommended for my machine to use anything except liquid.
Samantha´s last [type] ..Look At What Is Fresh For October!
I use this on my new Whirlpool front loader and it is great. I do have problems with stains on my boys clothes but I am trying different things including pre-treatment with a peroxide mix. I do use peroxide in the bleach compartment and I do like that a lot. I add lavender and vinegar to the fabric softener container and that makes them so much softer. I have been using this for several months now and love it!
I don’t have a front-loader so that’s really great to know Haylie. Thanks!!
I made this tonight too (along with dishwasher soap) and, as before, this worked just fine. I will get the aloa vera soap next time only because it was a little odd that the clothes didn’t have the ‘just washed’ smell. Thanks for the info.
Thank you again for your website, I love to read what others are doing to save money!
Samantha´s last [type] ..Look At What Is Fresh For October!
When I first started making my own detergent I was using the fels Naptha soap but kept having oily spots left on my clothes. I switched to Castille soap and have had no more problems with the oily spots. I like the Castille soap because it leaves a nice fresh scent and I have had no more itching either. I use white vinegar in the final rinse which helps with softening the clothes. I also have extremely hard water and have had no problem with the soap not working. I’m now going to try the homemade dishwasher detergent. Anything to save money and be more green.