Homemade Laundry Soap

When my second daughter was born, she developed eczema after two days of being on earth.  And it was bad.  All her skin looked like alligator skin and it seemed like it was sagging off of her.  She was scaly and rough…not like a baby should be.  As she got older, she would itch and scratch all day, making herself bleed.  So sad!!

While we found out later that she was allergic to milk, eggs, nuts, and dyes, as well as a few other things, her eczema didn’t go away all together.  It took a few more months to put two and two together to realize that she was allergic to our laundry soap.  We switched to All Free and Clear, but it didn’t help.  Then we switched to Purex Free and Clear (or whatever the real names are) and it worked wonders.

But it was SO expensive!  We got a years supply on a huge discount, but when that ran out, I just hated having to buy more.  So I looked into other options.  Noelle’s eczema had improved so much and her other allergies had diminished a ton, so I thought maybe we should just go back to a cheaper brand of free and clear.  We tried it, and while she didn’t have any reactions, our clothes stunk.  I wasn’t satisfied.

Then I thought about making homemade laundry soap.  I got the supplies at Walmart and finally whipped it together.  I’ve been using it for the last two months now and I love it.  I love that our clothes look and feel clean.  I love that stains are coming out well.  I love that it is so CHEAP!

Want to make some for yourself?  All you’ll need are three ingredients:

1. Borax
2. Washing Soda
3. Fels Naptha or other laundry bar soap

I got all of these at Walmart, but you may need to look around for them in your area.  All of them are in the laundry aisle.

The process is pretty quick.  All you need is a cheese grater (or a Salad Master/Kitchen Aid grating attachment, if you have them), a food processor, and an empty bucket to store it in.  I used an empty ice cream tub.

Grate the soap as fine as you can.  Process 1 cup of soap, 1-1/3 cup of borax, and 1-1/3 cup of washing soda at a time, depending on the size of your processor.  Mine was small, so that’s all I could fit.  Process until well blended and soap pieces are small.  They will not break up completely, so you will see specks of soap.  Pour the contents into your container.  Do this two more times with the same measurements so you end up with 3 cups of soap, 4 cups of borax, and 4 cups of washing soda.  Stir it all around in your bucket, cover with a lid, and you’re done!

Use just 1 Tbs per full load of regular soiled clothes.  Use 1 1/2 Tbs for heavier soils. 

Happy saving and washing!