I am satisfied enough with the results of the first batch that I may go ahead and purchase an essential oil. However, I don’t think that it is really necessary. After a few loads of laundry using my first batch of detergent, my husband commented that the clothes “Just smell clean.” He was very impressed, and he does not usually get excited about my experimenting.

It appears that the recipe is flexible, as there are many different versions of the recipe.  It can also be used as a powdered detergent. The powdered detergent would take up less storage space. However, the bar soap must be ground into a fine powder using a food processor. I tried just grating the bar soap, but it didn’t dissolve well, even when I tried to dissolve it in a few cups of hot water before adding it to the washing machine.  I don’t have a food processor, so I opted to make the liquid version. (Update: I have found that the Fels-Naptha is a little difficult to melt when I am making the liquid detergent – therefore, I would NOT recommend using this as a powdered detergent – seems like it would have trouble dissolving even if processed very small – makes me wonder about cold water washing with it)

I used the following ingredients (all of which I found in the laundry section at our local Fred Meyer store):

• Fels-Naptha Heavy Duty Laundry Bar Soap (Use 1/3 to 1/2 of the bar – finely grated) [COST: $1.25 per bar]
• 1/2 cup Borax (20 Mule Team Borax – Natural Laundry Booster) [COST: $4.39 for 76 ounce box]
• 1/2 cup Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer All Natural Super Washing Soda) [COST: $2.89 for 55 ounce box]

Ingredients for Homemade Laundry Detergent

SPECIAL NOTES:

• Use rubber gloves when working with Washing Soda as it is a caustic substance.
• Washing Soda is NOT the same as Baking Soda.
• I found some of the ingredients at various stores (Borax @ Safeway, Fels-Naptha @ QFC, but the only place I could find all three ingredients + essential oils was Fred Meyer)
• Ivory Soap (and others) can apparently be substituted for the Fels-Naptha Soap and is preferred by some people
• This detergent will not produce suds – but not to worry – suds are not what cleans your laundry

Put six (6) cups of water in a very large, non-reactive pot (such as stainless steel) and bring it to a boil. Add the grated Fels-Naptha grated soap (or some other brand). Stir until the soap is melted. Remove from heat. Add the Borax and washing soda and stir until dissolved. Add about 6 cups of boiling or very hot water to a large, clean bucket. Stir in the soap mixture and stir. Add another gallon of hot water and stir until mixed well. Let sit overnight. It should thicken up overnight. Pour into CLEAN 1 gallon storage containers (old laundry soap containers, milk jugs, etc.).  If it doesn’t thicken, it is still just as useable.

Use as you would your normal laundry detergent. You may need to experiment with the amount you use. Your laundry detergent will not have the fancy scent of your store-bought laundry detergent. Your clothes just smell clean. Many sites suggest that you can add fragrance by adding a few drops of essential oils (Lavendar, Orange, Lemon, etc.). I have not done this yet. I found essential oils in the natural remedies section at Fred Meyer.  I did not want to spend $10.49 for a small bottle of lavender essential oil.  Other scents were not as costly as the lavender, but I have decided to wait for fragrance until I determine the cleansing effectiveness of my new homemade detergent.

If you are trying to determine the savings you would enjoy by making your own laundry detergent, I have included the price I paid for each of the ingredients in the recipe.  The total cost of all of the ingredients was $8.53, which is very close to the price I might pay for a 100 ounce container of generic or store brand liquid detergent that washes about 64 loads.  Name brand detergents cost much more. When I made up a batch of homemade detergent, it produced about 2 gallons of detergent.  That alone would be quite a savings, but the good news is that I still have lots of the basic ingredients left. I only purchased one bar of the Fels-Naptha soap, and I used half of the bar with my first batch of detergent ($1.07 per batch). The second batch I made I used one whole bar ($1.70 per batch).  So I will either need to stock up on the Fels-Naptha, or I could stock up on it for the future. But my original purchase of the Borax and the Washing Soda will last a very long time.

According to my calculations, the cost to make your own laundry detergent using this recipe will cost about $1.07 to $1.70 per 2 gallon batch.

Another idea I found for saving money and going natural with your laundry products was for fabric softener. Many people recommend using 1/8 of a cup of white distilled vinegar (other varieties may stain your clothes) diluted in a few cups of water as a fabric softener. People seem to like the results of using vinegar for a fabric softener. However, I see mixed reviews on the results of this method for reducing static in the dryer.

A possible note of warning, I saw one post where a person used vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser of their washing machine where the vinegar apparently cleaned out years of accumulated fabric softener, making a sudsy mess. I only saw this one post. I didn’t see any other complaints about this problem, but it is worth noting. Other than that, most people seemed to love using vinegar as a softener, and they all state that the vinegar scent is gone when the clothes are dry. Vinegar has many other household uses that we will explore in another article.

I don’t use fabric softener. I use the softener sheets that you throw into your dryer. And my purpose for using these sheets is primarily to reduce static cling, so I’m not sure whether I will switch to using vinegar. I would like to try it. Some suggestions for saving money on dryer sheets is to cut them into halves or quarters, which may be better suited to my purposes.

There are other advantages to making your own laundry products besides saving money.  For one, if you currently purchase liquid detergent, think of the number of plastic containers that could be kept from going to landfills.  I even saved the plastic container from my last store-bought detergent, but also a milk jug from the landfill by washing them out and reusing them to store my homemade detergent. Another advantage is the joy that is experienced when save money and when we use our creative abilities to make something from nothing, and experiencing that joy is one of the primary purposes of this web site.

Other Articles / Resources for Homemade Laundry Detergent:

Making Your Own Laundry Detergent: Washing Clothes for Pennies
Homemade Laundry Detergent: Powdered or Liquid Which Do You Prefer?
Jabs Homemade Laundry Detergent

Disclaimer: Soup From A Sausage Skewer does not warrant information and has no liability for information provided on its web site. Each individual person, fabric, or material may react differently to a particular suggested use.

As they were rearranging, my daughter mentioned that she would like something to cover up the diaper wipes box. While it is a very handy, reusable container with a latching lid that allows you to pull out one wipe at a time, she found it to be rather unattractive with its “blaring” commercial label.

I searched the internet to find covers that could be purchased.  However, none of the ones I found were to my daughter’s liking, especially given their price tags. I found some covers that were boxes in which you simply hid the original diaper wipes box.  I found one that was pretty attractive, but very expensive.  It also didn’t seem to make sense to have to open two boxes to get to the wipes, especially while trying to change an active toddler.  I found instructions for covering the purse-sized containers. I also found one cover that was fabric with elastic.  But I wanted to cover the full-sized box.  It finally occurred to me that I could try to decoupage the container myself.

I decided on stripes and polka dots.  I created some pages of stripes and polka dots in photoshop and printed them out on my laser printer (you could use any kind of paper – newspaper, gift wrapping paper, photos, etc.) I had read some instructions for decoupage that said that the ink from inkjet printers would smear if used for decoupage.  I found another place where someone said that spraying the inkjet pages with hairspray would prevent smearing.  So I sprayed my pages with hairspray, just to be safe.  

Before I started glueing, I sanded the parts of the plastic box that I intended to cover, using very fine sandpaper. This served two purposes: 1) to roughen up the smooth plastic to insure a better grip to the box, 2) it allowed me to remove the label so it wouldn’t show through the light colored paper (the labels are almost impossible to remove – sanding removed it the best – but be sure to support the box from the back so you don’t break the box).

I used a cheap brand of white craft glue that I thinned with water. I used the glue to attach the paper to the box. Then I painted a couple of layers over the top of the paper to create a shiny surface and increase its attachment to the box.  More embellishment could easily be added to the black and white box, but I will leave that up to my daughter. Perhaps she can incorporate some pink and green into the black and white design (you can glue other images on top of the first layer – as I did with the pink and white box).  

I liked my decoupage solution, as it still allowed me to easily access the wipes.  If there is a next time, I might try to use fabric instead of paper.  But this was an inexpensive way to dress up the wipes. If moisture becomes a problem, I will cover the decoupage with clear laminate. However, we have been using these boxes for a couple of months now and moisture has not been a problem. This could make a cute an inexpensive baby shower gift.

After I finished my boxes, I found a diaper wipe box that was already covered with fabric for sale on Etsy that I thought was very attractive. If I ever have need of another one of these for a gift, I think I might try to copy this one. But I really don’t think a diaper wipe box cover warrants me spending any more time or effort at this point. My job is done!