It’s easy. It’s inexpensive. It’s healthy. It’s simple.
There are gobzillions of ways to simplify your life. Our family is on a mission to get things as simple and as inexpensive as we can. What that looks like for each family who wants to simplify will be different.
For me?
It means lots of things. Chickens that (will hopefully start soon to) lay eggs. Moving from our large home into a small farmhouse. Getting a horse or calf (maybe!) to mow down an overgrown area of pasture we have at The Farm.
Focusing on trying to be obedient in spending less so we can give more.
And making our own laundry soap.
How?
I’m so glad you asked. There are lots of ways to do it. Here is the way I make powdered laundry soap. It has cut our laundry costs by almost 90%. Of course, I still love to use Goat Milk Soap laundry detergent, too. What can I say? I’m an equal opportunity laundry soap lover.
To make your own?
Gather:
8 cups of Washing Soda (you can find this at WalMart and maybe Target)
8 cups of Borax (found easily at grocery stores, Target, WalMart)
1 bar of Fels Naptha soap, grated (you can use other soap if you like)
1 bar of Goat Milk Soap (one of their mainly unscented or totally unscented ones), grated
a few drops of your favorite essential oils
(lavender, tea tree oil and lemon are my favorites to add to laundry)
Mix all of the ingredients together well. Store in a totally sealed (preferably plastic) container. If you make a lot of it, ten gallon buckets with lids work great. Our friend gets bulk organic rolled oats for us and gives the oats to us in one of those! A big Ziploc freezer baggie could work well, too.
Use 2 Tablespoons for normal to big loads. Don’t worry that the soap won’t make your laundry suds up when washing. That’s normal! And it’s normal to become addicted to trying different essential oil mixtures to make your laundry smell just the way you want it. And it’s normal to have a big grin on your face as you fold laundry, knowing how much money you are saving on soap.
Oh, and if you don’t want to grate, you can use Oxiclean instead of soap, but I prefer soap. For extra soiled loads, I add a bit of extra detergent. For stains, I dampen a whole Fels Naptha bar, rub it on the stain and wash as normal. I don’t have a HE washer, but this kind of homemade laundry soap works fine with those washers, too. There really aren’t any good reasons not to give this a try, at least in my book!
I have been making homemade soap now for a little over a month and LOVE it! So happy to not purchase expensive Tide bottles. It lasts a long time and I like the control I have over what is in it.
Just a tip that I found helpful, I use the Pampered Chef hand held cheese grater for grating the Fels Naptha. It works out really nicely and comes apart so you can clean it up well. Unless you just save it for soap making!
Also, I love homemade fabric softener as well!
So excited! Thanks!
Love my homemade detergent, and I’m glad to see someone else use Goat Milk Stuff Soap in their recipe! I use their unscented soap and it’s the best! I also use Grandma’s All-Natural Lye Soap instead of Fels Naptha.
When I read this this morning, I thought of you …. I do believe it is GOOD NEWS !!!
Proverbs 27v 27
And thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy food,
for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.
I don’t mix mine ahead of time, just measure equal amts. of Borax and Washing Soda and then grate the Fels Naptha soap as I need it, keeping a grater near the washer. That way when I get an extra dirty load I can grate more into it.
I’m trying to find where you can buy goat milk soap. Does Walmart carry it?
http://www.goatmilkstuff.com– i know that’s where mckmama got hers! that’s where we get ours. it’s the BEST!
Thank you!
My friend Jackie makes her own laundry soap too. She used to use Felsnaptha but then found this out about it:
“Just did some research and found that the Felsnaptha bar soap I use in my homemade laundry detergent is made from petro-chemicals. I found a safer alternative that is the same price, called “Zote”. It isn’t perfect, has some dye, but is sounds a lot safer than Felsnaptha which has toxicity issues when used over a long period of time. Zote is safe enough that you can use it to wash dishes. Zote Soap has non-abrasive ingredients and no salts that could massively deposit in the clothes, it can be used for delicates. Zote Soap contains optical brighteners chemically designed for hand washing. Zote Soap has no chlorine, and thus bleaches without fading color. Ingredients: Zote Soap is made with coconut oil and tallow. It contains sodium chloride, glycerin, perfume, an optical brightener and dye. Zote Soap is scented with citronella oil, making the soap fragrance long lasting.”
Just thought I’d pass that on if you were interested.
She needs to be careful with Zote. It will clog the drains. I learned from experience with this.
Soap (sodium tallowate*, sodium cocoate* (or) sodium palmate kernelate*, and sodium palmate*), water, talc, cocnut acid*, palm acid*, tallow acid*, PEG-6 methyl ether, glycerin, sorbitol, sodium chloride, pentasodium pentetate and/or tetrasodium etidronate, titatium dioxide, fragrance, Acid Orange (CI 20170), Acid yellow 73 (ci43350)
*contains one or more of these ingredients
These are the ingredients of Fels-Naptha. Which of these is a petro-chemical because I cannot find any on the list of petro-chemicals I found.
What is fels naptha? Can you get that at the store?
yes. it’s a laundry bar soap. my local grocery store carries it, and walmart usually does, as well. it’s by the tide stain release at our store, but i’ve seen it by the dryer sheets at other stores.
Thanks for posting this! I’ve been purchasing laundry soap from Pure Hearts Clean Hands (http://www.phchnaturalsoap.com) but was just thinking yesterday I should make my own. Perfect timing! Thanks!
Hi Mckmama! Thanks for your tip on homemade laundry soap! I have made my own before but it was in a liquid form and I think it was the Duggars recipe. Anyway I had trouble with it cleaning stains out well and also dirty smelly clothes came out still dirty and smelly. Since you have MSC I am sure you deal with stains a lot like us, how would you rate this in getting stains and dirt/smells out of your clothes? I love the idea of making our own soap, but would like one that cleans well and since you have used this before it would be great to have your input! Thanks and have fun on the farm I have always wanted to live on a farm!!
Chelsie
Has anyone ever made regular home-made soap? Like bars for bathing? Ive always wanted to do that but never know where to get the best natural supplies. And for whatever reason Ive been afraid that Ill do something wrong and the soap will actually harm our skin. Can any of you ladies offer advice?
I’ve been using the Duggar’s recipe they have on their website for homemade laundry soap now for about 6 months or more and I love it!
Oh, and for keeping the grass down on your pasture- get goats. My mom grew up with goats and had them for a few years when I was a teenager and they eat anything so they would be good at keeping your pasture down. Also, you could sell off the offspring to be butchered for a good price, or milk the mamas, or collect cashmere from them (all goats have cashmere in their hair I guess, but some do produce more of it than others) and sell that! If I ever got goats I figured I would brush them for cashmere because a) I am not dedicated enough to milk something morning and night, and b) I could never sell a goat to be butchered…..they have great personalities and would soon become pets!!
Oh, and my mom makes her own goat milk soap and has tons of essential oils so I should try that in the Duggar’s recipe next time….
We’re totally going to do it!!!!
I had goats for 4 years and they are NOT grass eaters. They eat brush and weeds. So if you want the pasture kept down, get sheep. Goats are not lawn mowers!
P.S. I only milked once a day and got a gallon from my one Sanaan doe. A gallon a day would be enough for your family. If you got two does then you would have enough to make cheese and soap. Sanaan’s milk is the closest to cow’s milk in fat content and taste.
I already use the Borox and have the essential oils, so I really need to give this a try.
I saw the mom, Michelle, from that 19 Kids and Counting show make soap, and they added a lot of water and left the soap in a big bucket overnight – why? And then you let it dry out?
It’s thin liquid when you first make it, but once it sits over night it thickens up.
Thanks, Somer!
I have been making my own dry laundry soap for almost a year. We have 4 kids and our clothes come out great. I use 1 cup of borax, 1 cup washing soda and 1 bar of Fels Naptha OR a bar of goat milk soap. Mix well for 5 minutes and it’s ready to go. I also add vinegar to my loads instead of a fabric softner. There are many articles and videos on the internet that will teach you how to make it. That’s how I learned. Clothes have never felt better and cleaner. You can get everything at Walmart.
Your getting a horse possible, I’m thinking a lawn mower might be cheaper!
A 10 gallon bucket for what liquid because that would be one heck of a lot of powdered detergent?
Do you use both goats milk bars and fels naphtha?
I’m sorry this recipe just confuses me, maybe there’s a “simpler” one.
If you are confused, try breaking her recipe down into steps. Read them slowly, one by one. That is what I tell my students to do when they are confused by what they read.
I think the bucket and ziploc bag parts were just ideas of where you could store the soap. I did not take it to mean this specific recipe would fill a ziploc and a 5 gallon bucket. Depending on how much you made and if you had a bucket available, you may want to store your soap there.
But first let’s get you unconfused. Try reading her post again. Slowly this time. Don’t move on until you understand the step you are reading. Hope that helps.
yeah thanks but I found a simpler recipe 1 bar soap, 1/2 cup of borax, 1cup washing soda.
it’s not that I don’t understand the steps.
It’s seems Mckmamas ratio’s are off, that much borax would probably ruin your clothing.
That isn’t a simpler recipe, it’s the same recipe with different ratios.
Everyone uses different ratios. Some even call for only borax and washing soda with no soap! I prefer soap in mine. 
But there are as many ways to make your own detergent as there are kinds of fish in the sea. I just shared mine. Hope you find one that works for you!
I make mine with the same ingredients, slightly different ratios, but smaller quantities so I can do it in my food processor! I run the bars down thought the shoot into the grater (with the blade in the bottom also) and then just remove the grater disc, and add the two powders at the end. Love it! I might make two or three food processor size quantities at a time, and it will last our family of five a month or two before I need more. And it’s great on stains and super great for sensitive skin! Thanks for spreading the word, MckMama!
I made my own laundry soap for a long time. Then I found out about soap nuts-way easier.
Also-you should set the powder detergent out for a little while-overnight at least so that it can dry out and you can get it ground into a finer powder.
I love soap nuts as well. I got my sample for free, but do you think they are as cheap as making your own soap?
For me they are-NOBODY-not even walmart carries washing soda around here. I bought some while I was in another state and used it. I modified my recipe to use oxyclean-which is more expensive. The soap nuts last a long time and that with a few drops of lavender oil even gets cloth diapers clean.
should proffread before i hit send LOL! oh well.
We had that same problem here, but a friend of mine emailed Walmart directly and three weeks later our store started carrying washing soda. Hope this helps!
I made my own liquid laundry soap for a couple of years, but then had to use commercial for a while to get things white and bright again. Maybe adding oxiclean would have helped. It was borax, washing soda, grated fels naptha and glycerin.
i havent bought laundry det. since march.. i caught a good deal on the brrand we use, using coupons i got 22(ish) bottles & only spent about $13., theres still about 5 bottles left. when thats all gone i want to try making my own for sure!
Can you post a pic of the washing soda? Would make it easier to find in the store if I knew what the packaging looked like….. Thanks!
It is normally in a yellow box. I’ve never been able to find it at Walmart. But most grocery stores carry it. Good luck!
This is the kind of washing soda I use for my own laundry detergent: http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=215956159&sellerid=28612218
Hope that helps!
Washing soda is sodium carbonate and baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. If you can not find washing soda, put some baking soda in the microwave for about 10 minutes. This will turn the bicarbonate into carbonate. Washing soda is also called Soda ash and can be found at pool supply stores. Info found at: http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/
If your local walmart does not carry the washing soda or fels soap, just go to customer service and request that they order it! My local walmart did recently.
Awesome post! Love this side of your blog; mommas and women (mostly, i would assume. I can’t say I’ve ever read a comment on here from a man, but all you man-readers, way to go!) sharing tips and swapping advice so we can all live simpler, less expensive lives! Love it!
One caveat here, and I made my own detergent for almost two years so this is legit. It worked well for the adult laundry but never ever got our boys clothes clean. We ended up throwing out a ton of stuff because we could never get it clean.
My mom used to make this regularly minus the goat milk soap. Have fun with it!
I’ve been making the soap in liquid form for almost 2 years…best $ saver ever!!! I got my ‘recipe’ from the duggar’s website/blog.
I started making laundry soap based on The Duggar’s recipe. First I tried the liquid, not so great in my opinion! I have been making the powder and absolutely love it!
I did not love the liquid either, maybe I should try the powder. I felt like after going through one whole batch, all of my laundry was not as fresh and I didn’t like how the liquid was so clumpy, even after shaking, every.single.time.
Anyone have a recipe for fabric softener?
I’ve heard that people use white vinegar, but I have not tried it…anyone tried it before? Did you like or dislike it?
Yes, I use white vinegar in my laundry all the time! Love it. It neutralizes the urine in cloth diapers and in potty training accidents like Stellan’s pants!
I use white vinegar in my laundry with my towels and definitely with my daughter’s soccer uniform and soccer bag!!
Soccer gear=smart!!!!
Vinegar does work great.
I don’t have a recipe for fabric softener, but one thing I’ve been doing to stretch it out is to put it in a spray bottle and spray an old rag 3 – 4 times and toss it in the dryer with the rest of the clothes. One bottle has lasted me 2 1/2 months and I do A LOT of laundry.
I LOVE making my own laundry detergent (I make liquid). I also make my own Windex, counter top/cabinet cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, various stain removers, dishwasher detergent, and microwave/oven cleaner! It’s amazing what a little baking and washing soda, borax, ammonia, and vinegar can do!
I been making my soap for years and love it love the tip about the got milk soap. I have a freind who makes goat milk soap and we love it. she sells it at are framers market. I thought about living on a farm but there was just no way we could make it work. Good luck
with the cow or goats there nothing like fresh cow milk
Back to the old My Charming Kids blog!!! Look at all the commenters being nice and corresponding just trying to help each other!!! I LOVE IT!! I haven’t seen this in a long time on here! I must say it is a welcome change! Don’t get me wrong most of the comments were nice and sometimes we’d try to help eachother out but it’s been a while.
Ahhhhh so nice!
I have to tell you that when I first clicked over here, the ad at the bottom of the page was for bounce and it made me giggle.
Have you made your own fabric softener sheets? I’ve seen some recipes using strips of flannel (or old sheets or something) using water and hair conditioner along with something else. I should look it up, looked like a great idea to use up some old sheets I’ve been holding on while looking for a project for them…
MckMama – could you use a Goat’s Milk Soap with the essential oils instead of using un-scented soap & then adding the essential oil, or would that cause problems?
I wonder if the scent would be diluted that way? Not sure.
making the liquid stretches it even more. We love our liquid and 10 gallons is less than $2
I’ve been making ours for about the past year. I use ivory soap, but I think my next batch I’m going to try the fels naptha soap. I also never thought to add some essential oils to it!
Hi Jennifer,
I make my own laundry soap with HOMEMADE goat’s milk soap. If you really want to save money, you might want to try making your own soap as well. It is not as hard as you might think. I found a great video at http://www.milksuds.com/. It was worth the money I spent to get it, and I have made many batches with great success. I have been making my own soap for over a year now, and our family’s skin is amazing as well.
Karen
I would suggest you research Scottish Highland Cattle. They will eat ANYTHING (grass, pine needles of the tree, sugar cane, etc.). My fathers has this breed and they keep his fields fairly short. They are also even tempered, and easy to take care of.
I use the same recipe
– although I cut up my soap bars and shove them into my magic bullet. LOL! saves my wrist and hands on grating the soap… puts a beating on a magic bullet, but its still going strong. It doesnt get it AS FINE as grating does… because I did use to do the grating… but it still works fine in my washer 
Ooohh…thanks for the tip about the magic bullet!
I put mine in the food processor.. same principle and it works great!
Don’t you just love the magic bullet?! It is the only thing I have ever bought off an informercial (got mine years ago before they were more readily available) and I just love it!
yea buddy! that thing works
letting the soap bars air dry a bit after being chopped is wise too, helps the process.
I make my own soap powders too!
I make the liquid form, however I’m gonna try the powder form next!
If you have a dishwasher you can make your own powders for it too, very simple and use vinegar for the rinse!
if you put a couple of TBSP of vinegar in a cup on the top shelf it works better than putting it in the rinse compartment
Do you have a recipe for dishwasher detergent? I use the vinegar for the rinsing.
Dishwasher cleaning powder
1/2 cup baking soda
1 cup borax
1/2 cup cascade or generic works as good
mix it up…I use a baby wipe box to store it, plus the box has pooh bear on it, kinda a cute touch to the kitchen
I’d never thought of using dishwasher powder in there before, that’s a great idea! I used koolaid packets, but it became a brick. I think this would keep it from turning into a brick and stretch the Target brand we already buy.
I did read once about a concern about using Borax on dishes that you ate off of, but I’m not sure why. Anyone else heard that?
Please be careful with Borax and dishes, as well as kitchen surfaces and food processors (unless it is designated to use only with your detergent making activities. Borax is natural, but so are lots of things that can be dangerous to humans (asbestos or mercury, for example). Borax is great and I use it for laundry and such, too, but you should make yourself aware of safe practices and such. Here is one write up which is nice and clear (you can google it and find lots of other sources too. I’m not sharing to discourage use of Borax, just to encourage safe(r) use of it…
From: http://chemistry.about.com/od/howthingsworkfaqs/a/howboraxworks.htm
“Risks Associated with Borax
Borax is natural, but that does not mean it is automatically safer for you or for ‘the environment’ than man-made chemicals. Although plants need boron, too much of it will kill them, so borax can be used as an herbicide. Borax may also be used to kill roaches, ants, and fleas. In fact, it is also toxic to people. Signs of chronic toxic exposure include red and peeling skin, seizures, and kidney failure. The estimated lethal dose (ingested) for adults is 15-20 grams; less than 5 grams can kill a child or pet. For this reason, borax should not be used around food. More commonly, borax is associated with skin, eye, or respiratory irritation. It is also important to point out that exposure to borax may impair fertility or cause damage to an unborn child.
Now, none of these risks mean that you shouldn’t use borax. If you do a bit of research, you will find risks associated with all cleaning products, natural or man-made. However, you do need to be aware of product risks so that you can use those products properly. Don’t use borax around food, keep it out of reach of children and pets, and make sure you rinse borax out of clothes and off of surfaces before use.”
we make our dishwasher detergent this way:
1 cup washing soda, 1/2 cup borax, 1/4 cup kosher salt, and 20 packets of lemon koolaid (works to prevent cloudiness). I use 1 T per load, and put white vinegar in the rinse aid compartment. works great! you can add more or less of the lemon kool aid packets (the unsweetened kind) depending upon what kind of water (hard/soft) you have.
Careful girls! I used to use vinegar for a rinse as well, but when we purchased a new dishwasher I was reading the instructions, and it said to use vinegar only occasionally. It can corrode the mechanics of the dishwasher, and cause premature failure. I was seriously dissapointed because I hate to use chemical-laden rinse aids.
Thank you for letting me know…anyone else have any money saving tips for homemade cleaning items?
I use vinegar for cleaning my windows…any other ways to save money is great!
I use an all purpose cleaner of 1 part vinegar, to 1 part water and some drops of either Dr. Bronners or dish soap. I use that in the kitchen ALOT.
Baking soda works well for alot of cleaning, and I’ll use straight up bleach or Borax as a toilet bowl cleaner.
Im waiting on my supplies to get here from soap.com I ordered Lanveder essentail oil since im addicted to Gain lavender and at $12 a bottle i figured I can give this a shot! I have a older washer so ive been leaving the lid up and running it back through the cycle and then putting the lid down. My clothes for now are cleaner. Soon we will replace them and i cant decide if i want a HE or not.
Do yall not do the water ? If not how fine do you grate the Bar soap into the mixture?
Thank you so much. I will make my own laundry soap this weekend. I use cloth diapers and I am trying to live a more simple life. With so many children, I have no one to tell me how or show me. Could you answer two questions for me? One is how do I learn to make a blog? I want to make a blog but I dont know how? Second question That I have is If you have a dream that u feel sure that God wants u to do, but it seems to your in laws and your family that it wont work, or its requring to much commitment, How do you get them to see u were called to do this?
Thank you so much.. Because lately I am feel like giving up..
Blessings to you,
Katrina Mom to 9
If you wish to start up a blog…the easiest way is to go to a site that offers templates already. Especially if you are just starting out. http://www.blogger.com and http://www.wordpress.com are great places to start. hope that helps
our homemade laundry soap wasn’t my favorite on cloth diapers…so i mixed 1 cup washing soda, 1/2 cup borax, and 1/2-1 cup oxiclean for those…that seemed to work better and not create as much buildup as the soap itself did on the diapers.
Here’s another question – I tried making liquid laundry soap, and I liked it. I’d be up to trying this too (since I have a large plastic container with a 2T scoop sitting unused and I think I just found a use for it)
ANYWAY
My husband was absolutely certain that he saw our clothes fade after I used it for awhile and insisted that we switch back to Tide liquid. I didn’t see that, but he is skeptical about any cleaning thing I do that’s homemade. You should have heard the conversation after he spent $5 on a laundry machine cleaner packet (pkg of 2) cause the washing machine smelled “strange”. I have bleach in the house!!!
I have used my homemade for a few years and it has never faded out clothes or my husbands work uniforms, he is a soldier
My husband doesn’t like the soap nuts I’m using or anything unscented because he likes his laundry to smell “clean” (aka like Tide). Sigh… And I’ve found that using essential oils doesn’t help – the scent just evaporates in warm water. Anyone else have this problem?
His clothes don’t smell “clean”, they smell like chemicals. I hate to go in the fabric softener aisle at the store because it doesn’t smell good to me, just like toxic chemicals. Yuck.
I know, but that’s the way he feels. I am respecting his wishes by washing his clothes in regular detergent and the rest of our stuff with Charlie’s Soap. I’ll have to try MckMamma’s recipe. Still hoping to find a way to use more natural scents.
Oh, I think I’m going to try making the laundry soap! Buying detergent at the store is getting so expensive.
Of course, then you have two large animals to care for!
Also, horses really do better with a companion. It doesn’t necessarily have to be another horse, a donkey would work fine.
As if you need more farm advice . . .
You should skip the calf or horse and get goats instead. (I was raised on a dairy farm and kept a farm with 18 goats for ten years.) Horses are crazy high maintenance and will not eat whatever you want them too and lots of stuff can make them sick. Calves will not graze down an area you want at all. And both animals cost more than a goat to purchase. Goats are cheap, super low maintenance and very family friendly. You could even milk them if you had a wild hair and drink it – but that’s too time consuming for our family of eight.
Plus – they are stinkin’ adorable.
I agree completely! Horses are SOOO expensive and kind of ‘high needs’
Do the goats!
Yup- I suggested goats to her, too!
hehe
Here, here! Do seperate colors though, because this laundry detergent in my experience is not color fast. Are you all on septic??? Your septic will thank you for such a non-harsh mix. Garbage disposals and septics are not friends so don’t use it if it is installed and don’t install one if there isn’t one. Save all your food scraps for the chickens. They like soured milk too. Anything chickens don’t like, can be composted! Fun times, my friend!
Do you have a picture of the finished product?
I always love to see what mine is suppose to look like at the end of the process
Thanks!
If you want to get some sort of livestock to mow down a pasture, do NOT get a horse….get sheep, goats or cattle. Horses are very selective eaters…don’t like most weeds and even leave certain grasses untouched. They also like their pasture cut short. Plus the other choices provide you with food, fleece or milk! Horses are just a money drain. I know, I own two!
I’m very interested in saving money in this area. Any chance you know the approximate measurement you’d use for switching oxiclean with the bar soap?
the fels naptha grates to about 2 cups…the goat milk soap at least that much……but i’m not sure the equivalents with oxiclean.
for us, when i make ours with oxiclean, this is the recipe i have found: 1 cup washing soda, 1/2 cup borax, 1/2-1 cup oxiclean….use 1T per normal sized wash.
Welcome to the world of simple life. It is wonderful. I’ve made my own laundry soap, cleaners, dish washer soap, and other random things for years. We were heavily in debt about 7 years ago and we went “simple” to save money. Now we are debt free and still loving the simple life. BTW- I have a HE washer and it sometimes leaks about 3-4 TBSP of water due to suds from my homemade laundry soap. I just stick a towel under it to catch the drips!
Melissa
Melissa, how do you make the dishwasher detergent? Please share!
yes, I’d love to hear, too!
It is actually the same ingredients as laundry soap:
1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Borax
2-3 drops essential oil
Mix and store in a plastic container ( I used an old formula container with the scoop), use approximately 2 TBS per load. Then use vinegar in the rinse compartment as a rinse agent to help prevent residue. When I got my new LG dishwasher last year I had film on the glasses, so I added a little bit of liquid soap (just a dash).
I will have to try this… I’ve used baking soda before and it’s left a film. Do you see that with this mix?
if you add some lemon koolaid packets to the mixture, it helps with the cloudiness on the dishes…or you can use citric acid but it’s a little pricier.
Just use less per load for an HE washer. I sell appliances, so trust me, HE washers DO NOT require much detergent! If you use less, it will be better for the machine, and will not cause leaking.
I must say, I love seeing posts like this. For a while I felt like things were getting lost in the drama that people like to stir up but with the Not Me Monday post and posts such as these, I feel like this blog is going back to it’s original days. Keep doing what you’re doing Mckmama!
Hi,
I was wondering about the training you sent Roobii too. We just got a choc lab puppy and I have four kids two of which are small. I was thinking about sending away for training to so she’ll be trained not to jump and bite quicker but was wondering about how it transitions back home? Do you think it was worth it? Any info would be great b/c I don’t know of anyone else who has done this.
THanks,
Laura Hayes
Hi Jennifer!
We do the same thing. I love it and am addicted to doing it this way. We do still use fabric softener on certain loads, but its awesome for sensitive skin. Also works great and is safe for HE (says my friend) since its a low/no suds formula. Happy folding!
Did you know you can pour your fabric softner into a bucket, dilute it 200% and then throw in some sponges. Every time you wash clothes throw in one of the sponges and it works just as well
Have you ever tried a wool dryer ball instead of fabric softener? I love mine and am giving one away on my blog right now: http://www.livingwiththreeboys.com/2011/09/laundry-ball-giveaway.html
These are non-toxic and safe for the environment… plus they cut drying time. They are also safe to use with cloth diapers!
To make it even easier, I run the bar of soap through my food processor with the shredding/grating attachment. Then I dump it out and change it to the regular blade, add the Borax (and I use Arm&Hammer Washing soda) and the shredded soap back in and pulse it until its fine/well mixed particles. I found grating the soap by hand to be too time consuming.
How do you grate the bar soap?
I use my food processor to grate the bar soap – its much easier!
Cheese grater or food processor!
Sweet!! I am going to have to try that!!
Anything that makes me grin as I fold is worth a try!
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for providing us with this. I have been interested in trying to make my own laundry detergent. Where do you purchase Goat Milk Soap and Fels Naptha Soap? I live in an area with very limited shopping stores! By the way…I love your blog!
I found it at Ace Hardware if you have one nearby. If not they have a website with a store locator. http://www.felsnaptha.com
I make my own laundry soap, too, but in liquid form, since our water is so hard over here. Love it!
could you share the recipe for your liquid laundry soap?
Hilary,
I would be interested in hearing how you make your own liquid soap. We have very hard water with alot of iron/chlorine in the suburb we live in and I’ve heard liquid is better than powder. I was very interested in trying to make my own though after reading Jen’s post. If I could use liquid, I would probably prefer that.
Thanks!
There are a lot of different recipes. Here’s one.
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/04/09/making-your-own-laundry-detergent-a-detailed-visual-guide/
When I was making my own laundry detergent I used 5 gallons bucket.
If you have hard water, you need extra Borox to help soften the water. Sometimes it helps. In our case, even with extra Borox, our clothes were still dingy with the homemade laundry detergent unless I used Calgon so for me it is cheaper to use store laundry detergent. At least until we can afford a water softener than I’ll go back to homemade laundry detergent.
Thanks Lisa. I appreciate the insight. We have a water softerner but just horrible water where live – lots of “stuff” in it!
I love it! We have been on a similar scale back, live simpler “kick” as a family going on two years now. The only sort of problem I have come up against and would love to pose as a question here is: how do you actually realize the savings from things like this?
What I mean is, the cost of laundry soap etc bought at Costco or whatever was never a noticable blip on the budget radar, so unless I specifically take and set aside the money saved from things like this, it just disappears into the black hole of our monthly expenditures, know what I mean? I still do all kinds of these things though because it just seems like the right thing to do, but have yet to really feel the impact of the savings…would love to hear others’ take on it!
For about $50 ill be able to make 5 or so batches of the liquid home made . Thats 50 gallons. Id only get 5 100 oz gains . So thats a big savings. Maybe you could take a jar and put it in the laundry room and put $10 or whatever amount is what you save per bottle. For me it would be $10 per gallon or close to it.
This looks easy enough but I would like to know how much OxiClean to use if I don’t use soap.
Thanks!
Also, Where do you get the Fels Naptha?
use ivory, much cheaper
Fels Naptha is .98 a bar at our Walmart. In the laundry detergent aisle.
Hey…just a thought about the horse or calf. Horses require a lot of upkeep! From food (you know…cause they eat like a horse) and grooming (farriers are needed). But goats do not require as much….and LOVE to eat overgrown pastures…and flowers and anything else they can sink their teeth into!
Hope this is helpful to you
I was thinking a few goats would be a good choice too!
You are so right Amy. Horses need hay and grain to eat as well. My friend has two horses and they are every expensive. Where I live there are people who will bring goats to your property to clear out your land because they eat everything.
Ooh, love the goat idea!
The washing soda is also known as soda ash. They use it in pools, aquariums, etc. I know some feed supply stores carry it in 50lbs bags, but they call it soda ash!
Jennifer…I think we need you to put this in a file of its own…that way when we are looking for a tip we can find it again!!!!!!!!
I like that idea.
“The Simple File”
Enjoying these posts!
Love from NC!
hmmmmm. I’m going to be quitting my job when baby #2 arrives and this may be something I’ll have to try. I may still use Rockin’ Green for my cloth diapers, but this is worth a shot in my book! If you don’t use the goat’s milk soap, do you just use 2 bars of soap?
I soak my cloth diapers in Rockin’ Green when they need it and then use the homemade detergent in the wash. That way I save on Rockin’ Green since it’s expensive (but worth it! ).
I’ve never heard of “Rockin’ Green.” Sounds fun! What is it exactly?
Laundry detergent that is great for cloth diapers, made by family, from Texas I believe. http://rockingreensoap.com/
I have been reading about making my our laundry soap for a while now…with 4 little ones there is lots of laundry! Well, I keep finding reports about the borax not being safe… Do you know any reason why we shouldn’t be using it?
If you look online, there are tons of recipes for homemade. I don’t buy window cleaner, laundry soap, dishwasher detergent, hand soap, carpet spot remover, laundry pretreater, hair detangler, etc. anymore.
It has cut my monthly budget for home care/ personal care supplies by about seventy-five percent.
Buying in bulk is a huge savings too. Most cleaning agents like washing soda, baking soda, ammonia, etc can be bought in bulk to make the cost even lower.
Happy simplifying!
This is the recipe I use as well…although I haven’t added goat’s milk soap to mine (yet). Also happy to see your doTerra oils. That is the brand that I use and they are wonderful. This is a great way to save money and know that it’s safer than all the chemical laden laundry soaps at the store.
We just started making our own laundry soap. We’re trying to trim our lives down where we can so that we can live within the margins…spending less than we make and not planning out every single second of our day so that when given the opportunity we can bless others with gifts or our time.
I have no experience in the homemade laundry detergent arena, so maybe this is a silly question, but I have to ask! It worries me that putting essential OILS in the detergent could/would leave greasy spots on your clothes. I’m assuming it doesn’t, otherwise you wouldn’t use it. But how does it not leave greasy spots?
Lynnette, I’m right there with ya and wondered the same thing!
This may post twice…the first time I got an error.
About how many washes do you get out of one batch? And what do you pay, roughly, for each ingredient? I am very interested in trying this!!
the powdered recipe always got us about 30-40 loads in our house (but we made it on a much smaller scale than mckmama’s recipe…so hers might make…200+ loads? correct me, mckmama if I’m wrong!!)
we now make the liquid version, and one batch makes about 300 loads worth.
fels naptha soap is about $1, borax is about $3 a box here (oklahoma), washing soda is about $3 a box here, and the goat milk soap is about $6 per bar. On the boxes of borax and washing soda, depending on how big of a batch you make, one box might last a long time. for us it does.
Well since you mention a horse….
You want one? For like free?
We have a nice little pony that needs to be broken yet but I do not have the time to do it. She’s very sweet, white with beautiful blue eyes.
We’re about 45 minutes east of the Twin Cities into Wisconsin.
Seriously…if you’re interested let me know!
That’s a nice offer Lisa, but as a horse lover and horse owner myself. I have to point out to Mckmama that horses don’t just “mow” down overgrown areas. In fact they can be pretty picky about the grass they eat. They also have to eat during the winter, when grass isn’t available. Require regular vaccinations, worming and you must have their hooves trimed about every six weeks or so. At least that is what a responsible horse owner would do. No horse is a free horse. Before we bought our first horse someone told me that the initial cost of the horse would be nothing compared to what you would spend on it afterwards. That statement could not be more than true.
And as far as the comment about your pony not being broke. You know what they say about green (unbroke) horses and green (inexperienced riders) green horse + green rider = black & blue
An unbroke pony around a bunch of children is just an accident waiting to happen.
If you have grown up areas that need to be cleared – a goat is a much better choice than a horse or a calf. But goats can be aggressive as well. I know, we just had to find a new home for the sweetest little baby pygmy goat who we bottle fed, who turned into one horney little devil once he got his man parts and would take you down anytime you walked in the pasture.
Yes Rhonda all animals require care after they are brought home. Most people are well aware of that fact. I have never met a person yet that did not realize that an animal, whether a house pet or a barn pet, requires food and maintenance throughout the year. I would never, and have never, sent an animal, whether it be chicken, turkey, duck, geese, goat, horses, sheep, or bunny, home with someone who did not understand how to feed them, what to feed them, and any special cares.
Children should always be watched around animals, whether it is a horse or a broody chicken. An animal is an animal but just because it is an animal does not mean that there should not be children around that animal nor should you not have animals just because you have children. I have three small children (under age 5) and they have been taught how to approach animals and how to treat animals. I would never send an unsafe animal home with someone just as I would allow an animal on our farm that I did not trust (or be okay with learning to trust) around my children. My children walk in the pasture with supervision around all of our animals. Our animals eat out of my children’s hands but they also now how to treat animals and how to respect animals.
Animals are a wonderful part of any family’s farm and while they can be expensive they are also very rewarding. Over time, a family can also learn to do a lot of the maintenance required by some animals themselves or learn more about holistic animal care and avoid nasty chemicals.
this comment makes me want to run to my dad’s house borrow the truck and trailer and come on over! Ha! (it’s only like a 14hr drive from here!) lol… I love horses and have wanted one of my own since I was little. (My dad has cows)
I use grated Dr. Bronners pure castile soap in place of the Fels Naptha & Goat Milk soap (although I’m a HUGE GMS fan. Have used it for years) Dr. Bronners comes in lots of great scents :: almond, mint and citrus are my favorites for laundry! That eliminates the need for the essential oil, but still makes them smell great.
Glad things are going well on the farm.
Blessings,
Shana :: rhymes with Dana
Ooo, I like this idea. I LOVE my little sample of Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap (wanted to try it in a few things before I went all crazy). I think I may have to try their soap for laundry soap!
Do you use this for your cloth diapers? Do you find it works well for them? I have been researching making my own diaper laundry soap. I use Crunchy Clean and I like it well enough but it is SO expensive and I have to wait for it to be shipped and pay for shipping to boot. If not using soap how much oxyclean might one use?
Yes I use this for cloth diapers and love how it performs!
I make my own laundry soap with a very, very similar recipe and have used it on my cloth diapers and not had the best of luck. I love it for my other laundry, but still use the spendier stuff for the diapers. They just weren’t as absorbent. I’m not sure what makes it that way, but I just quit using it on the diapers and the problem went away. Hope that helps.
any type of fabric softener will diminish the absorbency of fabric. I stopped using fabric softener on my towels (or anything else for that matter) ages ago. My towels are so much better feeling now!
Leaving out the bar soap is what you’re supposed to do for cloth diapers so that it doesn’t ruin the absorbancy. BUT- be careful. Some babies are sensitive to the borax and can get crazy rashes.
I thought I read something about not using the bar soap for dipes. Is goat milk soap considered the same as say the fels naptha? I might make a tiny bit and toss a clean dipe in with a laundry load and see how it fairs on the baby’s bottom.
Thanks for all the tips/info ladies!
I didn’t love it on our cloth diapers, but then I eliminated the soap and used oxiclean in its place (oxiclean, borax, washing soda– just for the cloth diapers, i still used the soap batch for the regular laundry), and i think that works splendidly! the soap batch cleaned the diapers great, i just thought it put more buildup on them than i liked to have to strip away with vinegar…so i made a small batch with the oxiclean instead, and i never have to strip them anymore.
I’ve been making my own soap for about a year now with a similar recipe and it works great and it soooo much cheaper. I might have to try essential oils. Where d you get yours?
My husband’s aunt sells them, so I get mine from her mostly.
You can make washing soda by spreading baking soda on a cookie sheet and baking it at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour if you want to spend even less money or you can’t find washing soda. I also make my own liquid hand soap that is so easy. Just grate a bar of soap into 10 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of glycerin. Heat to boiling. Let cool to room temperature and put into dispensers. Cheap and real easy!
Are you serious?! No idea about the washing soda tip!!
LIKE! great tips, Lori!
About the hand soap . . . does it make suds?
I use a similar recipe for my soap. A 1:1:1 mixture of washing soda:borax:oxyclean because then I don’t have to grate. Just mix and dribble in some essential oils, of course. I like lemon eucalyptus. I use 1 tbsp for a normal load and about 3 for a very soiled load. Works great on cloth diapers, too. Either way, it’s super cheap and lasts FOREVER.
Wow, now THAT sounds easy Becca!
I think even *I* could do that! (I’m a TOTAL homemade-laundry-detergent virgin!! 
) Thanks for the tip! MckMama’s recipe didn’t sound complicated at all, but yours sounds even easier, which is good for someone like me! haha! And this stuff really does work well to get out stains and keep clothes looking good?
Jessica – - your comment made me laugh – - I am a TOTAL homemade-laundry-detergent virgin, too! Admitting is the first step, right?
yes, it is very good for getting stains out and is extremely gentle on clothes as well as on skin. Good luck.
Have you heard of Norwex? They also make an outstanding natural laundry detergent. It is great if you don’t have the time or energy to make your own! And one bag lasts for a long time!! Check it out!
https://ashleyhonkamp.norwex.biz/?p=n§id=4&cid=3&pid=1114
LOVE Norwex stuff too!
I’ve found when using homemade laundry detergent that not all odors are removed upon laundering. A highly offensive one to me is the smell of lanolin from body oil. Essential oils did not do the trick. I love the idea of making my own laundry soap but not the idea of still smelly clothes. Have you found a way to eliminate odors?
Using this recipe, I have found that my clothes smell just as good as with my Goats Milk Soap detergent and are equally as clean, if not cleaner, than when I used to use commercial soaps. Did you use a recipe similar to this one? Or what was in yours? The Fels Naptha, for me at least, is a must. If yours didn’t include that, try it. It’s a great oil and grease buster.
Where can I buy Fels Naptha? I am so interested in trying to make my own laundry detergent and never have so I am definitely going to be trying to make some this weekend! Thanks so much!
You can get it at your grocery store or Target or WalMart. Look with the bar soaps or laundry aisle ( it’ll most likely be here).
also, I’ve found it at ACE hardware
Ann – I was wondering that same thing as well. I have a HE washer and I switched from regular Purex to their natural line and after washing in hot water, with plenty of soap, I am still able to smell my daughter’s perfume on some of her shirts. My husband is a marathon runner and you can imagine the sweat on his clothes too and it amazes me that the store bought still has issues getting some of those smells out after washing and drying…
I love this… just one question- does it work okay in a HE washing machine?
Yes, it sure does!
joni, I used this recipe for a while but switched to another similar one. Both have worked very well in our HE machine.
Thanks for sharing your HE experience (I don’t have one) with Joni, Becca!