I’m just now getting to the end of my first batch of homemade laundry soap, and it seems to have worked just fine! Mine is the liquid kind, because we have hard water that doesn’t want to dissolve things. When I first made it, I thought it was weird because it wasn’t bubbly, but then I learned that it wasn’t supposed to be. I used our homemade lye soap, of which I have enough for a lifetime of laundry soap!

You should have the option of, “Used to use it but don’t any more.”

We used it for years. It worked well, for the most part. I quit using it because my whites got dingy and I couldn’t get them white again, no matter what I tried. Sure, clothes were clean, but they didn’t stay looking nice. For me, saving all that money wasn’t worth it if I had to replace my husband’s dress shirts every other year.

I can get name brand detergents for a really low price by using coupons and combining them with sales. The tiny bit of extra money out of pocket is worth it in keeping our clothes looking nice longer.

It was a nice option at the time, but I don’t think we’ll ever go back to it full time.

I’ve made it and used it and actually have an old gallon white vinegar container full of it in my laundry room cupboard. (Funny story to that – daughter says she needs vinegar for something she is cooking but “Mom, it’s a little cloudy and thick” “Oh, don’t use the one in the laundry room, that has homemade laundry soap in it!” LOL – Can you imagine…never mind.

I agree with Melody. It works pretty good, clothes smell good, but whites are terrible and you really need to use quite a bit, even in the front loader.

Consumer reports did the testing and now I use Costco’s Kirkland powder laundry soap with a half a scoop of baking soda. As long as I pre spray the food spots on our shirts, everything comes out great.

We used it for awhile, but DH started griping about how his clothes didn’t smell good – we even tried Suavitel in the rinse cycle, and it still wasn’t okay. ANd the texture really had a way of grossing me out….on soap-making day, I couldn’t make myself eat for anything (wait, that’s a good thing!). Anyway, back to Tide.

[...] Poll: Homemade laundry soap [...]

We live out in the country with water that will leave stains on everything over time. Full time we use a water softener to remove alot of the rust and other minerals.

All together we use for laundry soap borax – baking/washing soda – zote ground with food processor so cheap and easy smells good too. For fabric softener water – vinegar (also brightens clothes) – small amount of real fabric softener added to bottle just because I like the smell.

Liquid bluing for added brightness to clothes, found at the local Meijer’s supermarket for like $2.00 – Mrs. Stewart’s – it works wonders without being hard on clothes or damaging! I noticed a big change in my husbands shirts after the 2nd wash cycle so did he.

I tried to grate the bar of soap but it was being left in the wash a $5.00 food processor at the local resale shop was a God-sent. Other than that I have had no problems.

Love it and will keep it up!

I used the homemade stuff for a while, but our clothes started to get icky after a while. Splotchy spots on my black shirts, dingy whites, stains and smells not being removed. I will NEVER use it again. Detergent bought on sale with coupons is so cheap that it really doesn’t make sense to use the homemade junk.

[...] But back to the point:  Please chime in on my first-ever poll over at Frugal Hacks! [...]

Love it. Love it. Love it!

Have been making it and using it (powdered form) for 2 plus years. Has gotten me through the worst of cloth diapers and the stomach flu. Will never pay that much money for store detergent (mostly water) ever again.

To make it short, I agree with everyone who says it not only saves money but is safer for the septic and ground water.

Add to that my severe allergy to store soaps and detergents and asthma (so I always make liquid and not powdered). I found a lady nearby who made homemade soaps, and they worked great on my skin, so I tried it for laundry, too, and it was awesome. Because homemade laundry wash is usually made with soap and not detergents, it is less likely to cause problems. We have such rusty water we have to use a commercial softner, and I find the clothes come out better with homemade laundry soap- probably because of the Borax.

Now I’ve ventured into making my own soap so that it is even cheaper. But the real reason I will never go back is that I feel empowered. I like showing the feministic world that I don’t need their sympathy because I stay home and find joy in simplicity, frugality, and PEOPLE. Their demographic advertising is wasted on me.

We’ve been using it for over two years. We only use storebought when we don’t notice in time that we’re out, and I haven’t bought the ingredients and we need to wash clothes NOW- which is about twice a year.
We have never had a problem- our clothes are not icky, and I have done the price comparisons and it doesn’t make sense for us to use the storebought.
I don’t like the smell of laundry soap- it leaves a sharp and bitter edge to the back of my throat. So I also often do extra rinses to get *rid* of that smell others miss.=)

And folks are right about the bluing- your clothes are not really whiter with laundry soap. They are just coated in a chemical that creates an optical illusion. Bluing will do the same thing- I used to use it once in a while on cloth diapers.
I wrote about the optical brighteners (which some people are allergic to) here.

I will add that it’s easy for me to use this because one of the girls makes it for us. If I had a houseful of little ones and had to do this and almost everything else, I’m not sure I would. And, again, I don’t like the fragrance in laundry soap. In fact, when I do buy laundry soap, I buy fragrance free, and I prefer to use a fragrance free soap for my laundry soap, too, or at list something less gag-making to me (I don’t like perfume, either, and air fresheners make me feel like somebody sprayed my mouth with lysol). So the reasons I love it are the reasons somebody else might hate it, and vice versa.

I made the liquid recipe with Fels Naptha, washing soda and borax. I wanted to like it… but wondered if it was really getting our clothes clean. So the kids and I did an experiment. We took two identical white t-shirts and put various stains on them… oil, ketchup, chocolate, and grass.
We washed one in the homemade detergent and washed the other in store-bought. The store-bought outcleaned all of the stains, except one (and I’m sorry to say I don’t remember which one… i went looking for the shirts, but can’t locate them this morning). So anyway, we used the rest of our homemade batch on towels… and switched back to store-bought.

I use an equal amount of bar soap, borax and washing soda, I LOVE IT! I leave it in the powdered form, it takes up a smaller amount of space. I have used this formula for years, I don’t have any problem with it, it gets my clothes, bedding and towels clean, I also notice that my laundry comes out much softer. I’ll not go back, at least as long as I can help it.
I have used Zote soap, and Dr Bronner’s soap, I prefer Dr Bronner’s, but it’s a bit on the expensive side. I have been using Ivory for the last few batches just because it’s what I had on hand. I am about to start making my own lye soap and I will use that instead of store bought bar soaps.

Wretha

How much Dawn do you use?

I also use dish liquid (though Palmolive) as a pre-treater and by adding 1/4 cup to my laundry soap when I make it. This helps if you have a husband who works with motors and/or anything greasy.

I love it!!! By the way, “clean” doesn’t have a smell. It’s all natural, cheap, and good for the environment. If you want more whitening add more Borax or try a pinch of oxyclean. I have a HE washer and it works just as well as the name brands and Costco brands. I had a problem with my whites being dingy from the store brands – but haven’t with the homemade. Try adding a 1/4 cup of white vinegar in your fabric softener dispenser, it won’t smell like vinegar but works as a natural fabric softener.

I just recently started making my own laundry detergent. I use a concentrated liquid recipe (1-1/2 gallons). I use 1/2 bar of Kirk’s Castile soap or 1/3 bar of Fels Naptha, 1/2 cup Borax, 1/2 cup Washing soda, 1/4 cup Oxyclean. 4-6 tbl/load and it works great. Instead of fabric softener I use 1/4 cup white vinegar in the rinse cycle. Clothes come out of the dryer fresh and soft.

I’ve been making the powdered detergent for about 6 months now, and I love it. I have used a variety of soaps, including trail size soaps that I have collected from various hotels while traveling. They all seem to work just fine, and our whites don’t get dingy either.

Have been making the liquid version with Fels Naptha soap. I have been having problems with brownish spots all over my whites. I did spot some with Dawn dish soap and soaked in hot water. Seemed to take care of it but don’t really have time to spot and soak all of my white t’s. I am considering switching back to store bought even though it will be much more expensive. I hate wearing spotty shirts. I have a HE front load. Anyone have any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.