Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe
How to Make 250+ loads of Detergent for $32
I started making homemade laundry soap when we got married because it saved a ton of $$ each month. A decade later, I've found that I love this powdered detergent recipe more than the original liquid situation I started with. It's easy to mix up and lasts our family of five almost all year! (For more of the math, keep reading below.)
Now that we are on a septic system, I also appreciate that the ingredients are gentle not only on our skin but also on our water supply. Here's what you need for this powdered detergent recipe...
Recipe:
1 lb. Baking Soda $1
3 bars Castile soap $7 (we use Kirks unscented. Your cost would be $15-18 to use Doctor Bonners but you can choose a scent you like.)
3 lbs. Washing Soda $5.38
2 lbs Borax $5 (You’ll have half the box left for next year when you make your laundry soap again)
2.5ish lbs. Oxygen Whitener (we used Molly’s Suds this time)
Optional: 30+ drops Essential oil of your choice
Cost: $32
Other Materials:
Grater (I found this cheese grater at the thrift store for $2 and keep it with my laundry making supplies so that I don't have to grate soap on my food grater upstairs in the kitchen. Although it is just soap that you're shredding, so it's probably not the end of the world to use it for food, too.)
Bucket or large container for mixing. All these ingredients add ups to about 1.5 gallons of powder. I use a 2.5 gallon paint bucket we picked up at the hardware store.
Large spoon or spatula.
Storage container or Mason Jar for easy everyday use.
Steps:
- Grate the Castile soap bars into your bucket or other mixing vessel.
- Pour in the rest of the ingredients.
- Stir well to combine.
Use 1-2 Tablespoons of detergent per load.
How much are you saving with this recipe? Let's do the math...
According to the inter webs, the average family does 10 loads a week. We don't have kids with sports team uniforms or anything like that, but it still seemed like a pretty high estimate. (Tell me if you agree and how many loads per week your family needs in the comments below? I'd love to hear!) So I decided to calculate our own numbers, and depending on the week, we average anywhere from 4 to 8 loads weekly.
Now, this recipe will make just over 1.5 gallons of powdered detergent = 384 Tablespoons.
We use 1 or 2 - Tablespoons per load.
So let's go on the higher side and say we use 12 tablespoons per week. 12TBS x 4 weeks per month = 48 TBS per month.
Since we made 384 TBS divided by 48 TBS per month = 8 month supply of detergent.
Now this is rounding up on the higher side. From experience, I know that this batch will actually last us closer to 10 months.
But either way an 8 month supply for $32 seems like a pretty sweet deal.
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