Recipe to Avoid Disasters – All Natural

by CHERI on April 17, 2012

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Recipe to avoid Laundry Disasters that it. Here is my ALL NATURAL Laundry Soap recipe.

I have looked at so many different recipes for making your own laundry soap. I knew I wanted an all natural one so after all was said and done this is the recipe I created.

Only 4 ingredients.

You will need:

1–4lb box of Borax — a natural mineral found in California

1–4lb box of WASHING Soda –Washing soda is Sodium Carbonate (also called Soda Ash which can be purchased in swimming pool stores or departments)

1–4lb box of Baking Soda –Baking soda is Sodium Bicarbonate

3 bars of Castile Soap (all natural coconut oil soap)

2-4 Tablespoons for a normal load.

I purchased everything at WalMart. The bars of soap were in the health and beauty area with other soaps but everything else was in the laundry area.

I grated my bars of soap. Mmmmmm it smelled so good.

I do want to try Dr. Bronner’s soap next time. It is another All Natural Soap.

I love that it is all white. The soap smells so clean. Our clothes smell fresh and clean.

I mixed everything together in a trash bag then put some into a jar.

It makes quite a bit of laundry soap for a fraction of the price of store bought laundry soap. I filled another container and have a large ziploc bag full of laundry soap.

I am planning on getting some oxy clean and mixing 1/2 of a container with 1/2 of the laundry soap to have a soap for my whites.

I paid less than $10 for everything and I have more than a store bought box of laundry soap.

I made a pretty little tag and tied it on with some black ribbon–all from Canvas Corp.

The glass jar and measuring spoon are available at WalMart as well.

High Efficiency (HE) Washers

HE front-load washers require “special soap” for one reason alone – low suds. Because they use less water, they require soap that is less sudsy. The good news is, this homemade detergent is VERY low suds. The ”special” HE detergent is just another advertising mechanism to push consumers to buy “special soap” for unnecessarily high prices.

Regardless of your washer type, just make your own with confidence.

More on HE washers and their detergents.

Safe for septic tanks and fields

This is the best laundry soap to use with septic tanks because it contains zero sodium and zero fillers (like montmorillonite clay) that cause commercial powder detergents to clog lines. It is also completely non-toxic so it will not harm necessary septic bacteria like toxic detergents and antibacterial soaps.

I did a lot of research when looking for what I felt would be the best laundry soap for our family. Here are a list of other sites that information on laundry detergents. some of these sites have been added in after I made my laundry soap but wanted to share other links as well. There is a lot of information out there as you can see. I have to tell you in all the research that I did –we as a family LOVE the combination that I decided on. Our clothes smells so good and clean. My family comments on it all of the time.

Potholes and Pantyhose

{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }

1 leah belle April 17, 2012 at 7:56 am: this is the exact recipe i use! i added a step to the process, however. after grating the Kirk’s Castille, i run it thru my food processor to make it even finer (dissolves better in water).
2 CHERI April 17, 2012 at 8:09 am: Thanks for the idea Leah. It smells soooo good.
xo,
Cheri
3 Jennifer Juniper April 17, 2012 at 10:18 am: I have been wanting to try this but haven’t gotten around to it yet – maybe this summer??
Jennifer Juniper recently posted..Tutorial Tuesday!
4 CHERI April 17, 2012 at 11:55 am: Jennifer–it was so quick and easy. Even with hand shredding the soap, it was all done in 10 minutes.
There is a recipe for liquid soap as well but it takes longer.
5 Tammy April 17, 2012 at 1:55 pm: Can this be used in HE washers?
6 Andrea April 17, 2012 at 3:07 pm: I use Fels Naptha soap because it’s such a good stain remover & I buy the soap ahead of time & store it so it dries out. Then when you grate it & run through the food processor it becomes a powder just like the rest of the ingredients. Instead of oxy clean I used a box of clorox 2 to make sure I was getting the clothes as clean as possible & still had bright colors. My husbands work clothes have never been so clean & I always used Tide & Borax before.
7 CHERI April 17, 2012 at 5:04 pm: Tammy–yes. I added information about HE and front loader washers and the soaps for those.
8 Erica April 18, 2012 at 1:54 pm: Awesome recipe, Cheri. There are so many resources out there for natural cleaners. Glad to hear from a trusted source! BTW Dr. Bronner’s is wonderful stuff. They have several natural essential oil “fragranced” options to add an aromatherapeutic benefit to laundry day. I use the lavender liquid diluted for gen purpose cleaning and floors, too.
9 CHERI April 19, 2012 at 12:04 am: So good to hear from you. I hope we will see you guys soon.
10 Debbie April 19, 2012 at 10:17 pm: After I read this post I purchased the ingredients and made a batch today. It smells great and the first load in the washer as I write. I did find the Castile soap at Walmart (San Diego area) on a clearance end cap. I asked the associate about it and she said it was a special order by a woman who didn’t need it all and that they don’t usually carry it. She said it has been selling so maybe the store will carry it in the future. I bought all they had, just in case. All the ingredients were found at Walmart, including the glass jar.

Thanks for your post. It is a great cost-saving tip for me and my family.
11 CHERI April 19, 2012 at 10:28 pm: I love the smell of our soap and clothes. So glad you are enjoying it.
I’m glad you got a deal on the soap.

Cheri
12 Adele April 23, 2012 at 6:50 am: Hiya babe. Just to let you know, I featured this on my blog this morning. I would be thrilled if you could check it out 🙂

http://mammymade.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/mint-stuff-ive-seen-12.html

Adele @ Mammy Made
Adele recently posted..Mint Stuff I’ve Seen #12
13 Nicole May 17, 2012 at 5:22 pm: Thank you so much for this idea!! It has worked great for our family so far!
14 CHERI May 17, 2012 at 5:52 pm: Thanks Nicole. We love it too.
15 Angela belcher September 26, 2012 at 1:00 pm: I’m using fels-naphtha instead of Castile soap, do I use three bars? TIA : )
16 CHERI September 26, 2012 at 1:10 pm: I would use 3.
17 Maryann April 15, 2013 at 7:23 am: Is anyone having an itching problem? I want to keep using this but omg all of us are itching so much. My aunt seems to think its the borax, she says it is really strong. Please let me know..
18 Jessica April 25, 2013 at 1:55 pm: Do you have a recipe for liquid? I’m not the biggest fan of powder :/
19 CHERI May 9, 2013 at 11:07 am: I use it all of the time and have never itched. My parents use it as well. I have several friends who have used it and no one has ever had that problem but you might be allergic to something.
20 CHERI May 9, 2013 at 11:09 am: no but I am sure if you google it– it would only require a few extra steps like
boiling water with the soap flakes and then adding in the other ingredients and letting it sit overnight to thicken and cool.
21 Trisha D June 8, 2013 at 3:11 pm: Hi, I’m having hard time finding coconut oil bar soap so was wondering if can use Fels Naptha soap instead?
22 CHERI June 11, 2013 at 11:33 am: My store quit carrying it and I have gone to the soap flakes. 🙂