Homemade Laundry Soap

Making your own laundry soap is easy and affordable. This recipe makes about 2 gallons or enough soap for 64 to 90 loads depending on the type of washer, load size, and soil level. For us it turns out to be less than 2 cents a load. Now that's a good deal.

1/3 bar Fels-Naptha

1/2 cup washing soda

1/2 cup borax powder

~ You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~

I store the ingredients in glass jars. They look much prettier in my laundry room than the cardboard boxes. On the right is the grated Fels-Naptha. The middle is the borax and the right is the washing soda. I am able to purchase all three of these items at our local Wallmart.

First you will need to grate the Fels-Naptha. I use my food processor to due this quickly. Next put the grated soap in a sauce pan and add 6 cups of water. Heat this until the soap melts.

Add 1/2 cup of borax powder and 1/2 cup of washing soda to the melted soap & water mixture. Stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat.


Pour 4 cups of hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Next add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. If you would like to add a fragrance to your soap you can add essential oil here.

Cover the mixture and let it sit for about 24 hours. During this time it will gel. I like to use my hand blender to make the soap a more uniform consistency, otherwise it seems to have clumps of gel floating in liquid.

Use 1/2 cup per load. I have a front loading washer and only need about 1/3 of a cup.