Homemade Laundry Soap

We did some research for quite awhile about making homemade laundry soap. It seemed like over the past few years, laundry soap prices were going up every time we went to buy some. Plus, we live pretty far from the store, so every time we needed soap, we had to go out of our way to get it. My husband is a heavy equipment mechanic, so his work clothes are usually really dirty or greasy at the end of the day. I found I was having to use twice as much laundry soap and even add some degreaser for his work clothes to even get clean. So it wasn’t going to hurt to look into other options for laundry soap. Why not try and find something more cost effective and easy to refill when I need it?

There are a surprising number of DIY laundry soap recipes out there. You can find them with a google search, pinterest, and even on youtube. We found that a lot of these DIY soaps used soap flakes like Zote, but after some research, we found that soap flakes can actually cause build up in your washer over time. Obviously, we don’t want that. So we have been experimenting over the past year with some different DIY laundry soap formulas. We have finally settled on the one that I am going to share with you here. It does a pretty good job at getting the clothes clean and is super cost effective. We have bought one container of each of the ingredients and we have been able to make laundry soap with them twice, use the products individually around the house, and they are still not empty. Plus, the one batch of soap lasts several months at a time. DIY laundry soap may not be for everyone, but it is something we are really glad we tried, and are happy to continue using.

So what will you need? I’ve linked to everything via Amazon for your convenience!*

For the container, you will need:

• A 5 gallon bucket with a lid (we got ours from Lowe’s but you can also get them here: https://amzn.to/3ONDerV ,or at Home Depot or Walmart) [paid link]
• A quarter turn ball valve spigot with a bulkhead fitting (you can order one on amazon here: https://amzn.to/3nnnqAD ,or you can buy it at your local hardware store) [paid link]
• A 7/8 inch hole saw (buy yours from Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3AsY9wL) [paid link]

For the soap itself, you will need:

• 4 gallons of hot tap water
• 1 cup liquid dish detergent (any non-bleach type will work, from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HZIN4h) [paid link]
• 1 cup oxyclean (from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3yssBFF) [paid link]
• 1 1/2 cups borax (commonly known as “20 mule team borax”, get it here: https://amzn.to/3a47Oib) [paid link]
• 2 cups washing soda (commonly known as Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, get it here: https://amzn.to/3OL2IWU) [paid link]
• 1/2 cup baking soda (you can get it from Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3HX8kv7) [paid link]
• *Optional* In-wash scent booster (this one is my favorite: https://amzn.to/3QZlP1h) [paid link]

You will also need:

• A long spoon or stirring utensil
• A cheap liquid measuring cup (one from the dollar store that you don’t mind designating for laundry soap is best)

We assembled our bucket before making this post, so unfortunately, I do not have pictures of that process. However, it was super easy and I will still tell you how we (we, meaning my husband😁) set the bucket up!

To set up the bucket:

1. Use the hole saw to drill a hole about 2-3 inches from the bottom of the bucket.
2. Install the hardware by placing the spigot with the gasket through the front side of the hole you drilled in the bucket , and then screwing on the back (the bulkhead fitting) inside of the bucket. Ensuring it is tight so that the soap does not drip out. And that’s it, your bucket is ready!

To make the soap:

1. Make your tap water as hot as you can get it. Then fill your bucket with 2 gallons of the hot water, or about half way full.
2. Add the liquid dish detergent, oxyclean, borax, washing soda, and baking soda and stir immediately until everything is dissolved.
3. Fill the bucket with the other 2 gallons of hot water, filling the bucket almost to the top. (Be careful not to fill it too full or the soap will spill out when you move it.)
4. Give it a couple good stirs to make sure everything is mixed well. Then the soap is ready to use.

When you have made the soap, snap the lid on and find a place where you would like to keep the soap. We keep it on a shelf above the washer in the laundry room. I have a cheap plastic liquid measuring cup from the dollar store that I use to dispense the soap. For a small or lightly soiled load, I use a 1/2 cup of soap. For a medium load, I use 1 to 1 1/4 cups depending on how soiled the clothes are. For a large or heavily soiled load, I use 1 1/2 cups of soap. If the clothes are very dirty, you can add a little extra dry oxyclean to the load or soak the heavily soiled clothes in a container filled with the DIY soap mixed with some hot water before washing them. For my husband’s work clothes, I will still add some degreaser from time to time if his clothes are really greasy. This laundry soap has NO scent when the clothes are done washing. So, I prefer to add some in-wash scent booster according to the package directions to give the clean clothes a nice smell, but this is completely optional.

This is how we make our homemade laundry soap. It works really well for us and is far more cost effective than buying the name brand soaps at the store. We know this isn’t for everyone, and does take a little extra effort. But there are some people out there who like us, would be curious about homemade laundry soap. So we thought it would be a fun thing to share and could be helpful to someone. Let us know if you tried it and how it worked for you!

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