I’m calling this post “That Laundry Soap,” because after I mentioned on Facebook that I was making a batch of homemade laundry soap about a year ago, I was forever after asked by people, “Are you the one who makes that laundry soap?” Why, yes I am! 🙂 But I’m not alone. A ton of people are making this laundry soap. I can’t speak for why the rest of them are doing it, but I do it because I can make a 5 gallon bucket of laundry soap for less than $2 and it lasts me for just over 6 months. Crazy, huh?
I’m down to just a few scoopfuls from the last batch I made, so it’s time to get crackin’ again. Here are pictures (and an explanation) from the last time I made the soap:
You start with a bar of Fels Naptha soap, an old-timey soap I had never heard of prior to making this soap. Using a plain old cheese grater, grate the bar of soap into little slivers.
Doesn’t this look like a big, beautiful pile of cheddar cheese? Yeah … not so much. Cheese would melt MUCH faster, let me tell ya.
Take all those beautiful curls and put them in a large saucepan. Add 6 cups of water
and turn the heat on low. Start stirring, and try to be patient. The first time I made this I thought, “If I leave a bar of soap in the shower overnight, it melts into a gooey mess by morning. What’s wrong with THIS soap?” I don’t know if it’s the Fels Naptha or just the fact that you so desperately want it to melt, but it takes awhile. Just keep stirring, and thinking about all the money you’re saving.
When it begins to look like thick, delicious, creamy, yellow cheese soup, it’s done. Don’t you think you could throw some crackers in this and call it good? Maybe we’ve been standing too long over that hot stove …
You’re almost ready to take all that yellow goodness and pour it into a clean 5-gallon bucket. (I got mine at Home Depot, which is why it’s Home Depot Orange.) But before you can pour in the soap, you need to first pour in some boiling water. Just a kettleful will do for now.
Now you’re ready to add the melted soap. 
Stir that around till the water and soap are combined, and then you’re ready for your next two magic ingredients:
I don’t know if it’s just Fred Meyers, which is a large department/grocery store in our area, or if other stores do this as well, but these three ingredients — Borax, Fels Naptha, and the Super Washing Soda — were conveniently stored right next to each other in the cleaning aisle. It’s almost as if they sensed I was coming with my list in hand. That Freddy … so thoughtful. 🙂 If you can’t find them in your local store, I’ve linked to Amazon for each item.
You want to add 1 cup of washing soda and 1/2 cup Borax to the water/soap combo in the bucket and stir until dissolved. ***Note: some recipes call for one cup of each of these. I’ve tried it both ways and haven’t seen much of a difference.
Now, if you want to, you could add a little fragrance at this point. When I first made this, my kids complained that it didn’t smell good. That doesn’t mean it smelled bad, just that it didn’t smell good. It really has no scent at all, and they wanted to smell something. So I started adding 20-25 drops of Lavender essential oil. I think the difference is negligible, but it makes them happy.
Now stir it all together and add more boiling water until it’s about 2/3 full. Stir, stir, stir. Then finish off by adding hot (not boiling) water almost to the top of the bucket. Stir again and let stand.
It’s going to get thick and gelatinous within a few hours. The first recipe I tried said it would happen overnight, but mine thickened up in about two hours. The ONLY thing you may not like about this laundry soap is the texture. My son described the first batch I made as being like toilet paper that had been left to dissolve in water. Nice, huh? 🙂 Others have said it resembles egg noodle soup. It really can be kind of stringy and weird, but I’ve fixed that for the most part. I stir it like crazy with a wire whisk after it thickens up, and again every time I open the bucket to dip out more into my smaller container (I store mine in empty Folgers coffee canisters from Costco … have you read my post on “Free Storage?”) I’ve found that this helps the consistency a lot.
I know someone out there will ask about High Efficiency washers. I have one and have been using this soap in it for about six months with no problem at all. It could be because I only use 1/4 cup per load. I’ve also checked several sites and have read that others are using this soap with good results in their HE washers. As to cost break-down, people with a lot more time on their hands than me have calculated this to be about a penny a load. I believe it, because my less-than-$2 bucket lasts me just over six months, and my washer is going all the time. So … there you go! If you try it, please come back and let me know what you think.
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Shannon: I loved hearing you speak at Calvary Vista’s retreat! You shared such great words of encouragement and wisdom, and with such humor. I’ll remember so many of our stories! And your encouragement to stay Under His Shadow.
My first batch of laundry using your soap recipe is in the dryer- can’t wait to see how it comes out! I also loved your workshop on journaling. As an art teacher and journal/sketchbook keeper, I loved your easy idea of starting with the magazine photo for your inspiration. Thank you so much for serving women! I’ll be following you on your website/blog. God bless you! Kathy
Hi Shannon,
Tried making the laundry detergent but didn’t and couldn’t find the website before I did it and tried to do it with my half recipe I copied online.. So my soap is still very liquidy. like soup..????? I didn’t boil the soap with water and mixed the borax, soda, and soap together and whisked it till it looked like egg white and I kept adding water and now it is soup..Do you think, this is selvageable? Ruth
Hi Ruth! The first batch I made, I didn’t actually boil the ingredients. I just melted the soap in water, poured it in my bucket, then added a cup of the borax and a cup of the washing soda and poured boiling water over all. It worked fine. It takes several hours to set up–how long ago did you mix the ingredients? You may find that by tomorrow it has set up fine. If that’s the case, just whisk it really well, then pour a little into a smaller container (I use a plastic Folgers’ coffee jug) and whisk that again several more times over the next few days, and it will have a much nicer consistency. I think if I were you, and it hadn’t set up by tomorrow, I’d be tempted to pour as much as I could into a giant pot and boil it for ten or fifteen minutes.
Please come back and tell me what happens! 🙂
Shannon, this soap is awesome! We have hard water where I live and this soap makes my laundry so soft, not to mention it cleans very well! I used hot water in with the grated soap flakes and it only took about 5 minutes for it to melt and look like cheese soup. I also used my drill and a paint stirrer thingy (sorry, not sure what it is really called) attached to it to mix up the whole batch! Thank you so much for sharing with us!
Yay, Cyn! I’m so glad it worked for you. I love it too. And I love your tip about the paint stirrer thingy! lol. That’s exactly what I would call it too. 🙂
Shannaniah twang! Hey I was wondering about the essential oil. I have some oils for candle incense burners. Would those work or stain my clothes???
Hmm … I’m not sure I’d risk it. If it doesn’t work, that’s 5 gallons of laundry soap down the drain. :/ I guess it depends on what your bottle of oil says. If it says “essential oil,” you might be okay. That’s all mine says: Lavender Essential Oil.
That twang thing had no reflection of your voice. I have never heard you sing 🙂
Lol 🙂
Hi Shannon, just wanted to share with everyone out there who likes to use color safe bleach laundry soap….I added a small box of purex color safe bleach to the last batch of soap that I made. I added it to the bucket with the melted soap flakes. I don’t see to much a difference…lol…but some people prefer it this way and that is why I tried it. It gives it a pretty light blue color and it smells clean and fresh and you don’t have to add essential oil. =)
Great idea, Cyn! Thanks for letting us know 🙂
In case someone hasn’t already commented on this or you’ve not already tried it, melting the soap in more water is a LOT faster. I use 2/3 bar in 6 cups of water, and it doesn’t take anywhere near 45 minutes to melt. Speaking of, I’m about out of my last batch too…
Becky, thanks for adding that! You’re absolutely right. After that first batch, I started adding a bunch more water, and it made a huge difference. I should probably correct those instructions in my post. ALSO! One of my friends from church told me last week that she added the last 1/4 cup of her regular laundry detergent (just to use it up) to her homemade batch, and it completely took care of that weird, soggy paper-like consistency. She said that whatever they put in regular detergent holds it all together. I might try that next batch. Thanks for adding your insight here! 😀
Hi Shannon! I so want to try this, but I’m having a hard time finding the Fels Naptha soap! I’ve tried Safeway, Target, the base commissary, Dollar Tree, and SaveMart. Where do you shop? I’m in Lakewood, WA.
Hi Tricia! I’m up in Marysville and find it at our Fred Meyers. They actually group all three items together on the top shelf of the laundry detergent aisle. Do you think they’re onto us? 😀
I found when I made my laundry soup that if you soaked the grated soap in water the night before you had to stir only about 6 minutes until the soap is melted. thank you for this recipe.
Great tip! Thanks for sharing that, Ruth. 🙂