DIY Laundry Soap Powder

Have you guys ever make your own laundry soap? I just made another batch. I haven't done it in a while…

23 years ago my firstborn was a newborn. He had very sensitive skin. I could not use disposable diapers or disposable wipes or regular laundry detergent on his cloth diapers. So I made my own wipes and my own laundry soap. It was super simple. I grated up bars of ivory soap and mixed the following:

• 1 bar ivory soap, grated
• 1 cup borax
• 1 cup washing soda

Depending on load size and whether or not you have a HE washer or not, use 1-4 T. per load.

I used this for his diapers and all of our clothes. Our clothes were SO soft!

I just made another batch of this soap (using Zote flakes instead of Ivory because I didn't want to bother with the grating) and am interested to see how it does. My laundry is much dirtier these days with my older sons and husband doing a lot of out door and construction type work. Back then my husband had an office job and my baby really didn't get that dirty. I will let you know!

~Mama to Many~

I go further and make my own soap bars with natural fats and lye. I use it to make my own liquid laundry detergent. The soap making process is explained on line. There are also soap calculators on line for proportions of fat, lye and water. Instead of grating my soap, I cut it into smaller pieces and put them in a 10 liter water bottle, add baking soda (about 200 g) and about 100g borax. Fill with water and leave it to melt on its own. Shake it well before each use. I clean at home with baking soda, vinegar, steam-cleaner. I use my own soap as a shampoo and tooth-soap as well. I do not use any chemicals in the house. To remove stains from clothes I use dry clay powder.

This isn't exactly a cure, but might help anyone with allergies and sensitivities to chemical laundry detergents.

I bought a box of Borax for the first time and have started making 100% natural laundry detergent, along with a natural soap (Castille is what I used) and Soda Ash (or 'Washing Soda' - which is a more concentrated form of Sodium Bicarbonate/Baking Soda. I bought mine from an Art Supply which was sold as '97% Soda Ash' (people use it to set tye-dye and natural dyes. I read that Arm and Hammer Washing Soda is only about 23 or 30% Soda Ash and has bleach and chemicals added).

There are other ways of washing laundry naturally like soap nuts, etc... I haven't gotten to trying those yet, but just wanted to say how easy and rewarding this was. It's not as laborous as you think! You can find recipes online. It is just a matter of hand grating the soap (which is kind of fun, let the kids do it!), then dissolving the soap in a pan of hot water on the stove, + adding borax and soda ash. White Vinegar can be added to the wash as a natural fabric softener. And for good measure, why not dry some clothes out in the sun! My laundry is coming out beautifully (especially the cottons).

What was once a boring chore is turning into a labor of love. Ok, maybe not EVERY day! But it's inspired me to make many similar changes and get back to the old fashioned ways of life. Afterall, don't they always portray women singing at the clothesline? But we don't do that at the washing machine, do we? Makes me feel like we've lost something there.