In preparation for the 5 Weeks To A Clean and Organized Home event coming up on April 5th, here are some natural, homemade laundry soaps and softeners. The first soap is one that I have used regularly since 1991. It works well, does not suds so is safe for high efficiency machines (but I cannot be held responsible for your machine if you make and use this soap), is very inexpensive and usually allergy-free. 
Classic CHK Laundry Soap
1/3 Bar Fels Naptha soap (grated)
1/2 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Borax (20 Mule Team stuff)
3 pints water (more water added later to make 2 gallons)
Stir gently over medium heat until it thickens like honey. If for some reason it does not thicken, it will still work! Just use it in its liquid state.
Add enough water to make 2 gallons.
Another Good Laundry Soap
2 cups pure soap flakes A scoop of Classic CHK Laundry soap …..
1 1/2 cups Borax
6 cups warm water
1/2 cup glycerin
2 teaspoons essential oil of either lavender, lemon or eucalyptus
1) In a medium saucepan, stir together the soap flakes, borax, and water. Heat slowly and stir until the mixture is clear. Add the glycerin and set aside to cool.
2) When cool, add the essential oil and stir thoroughly
3) Pour into a mason jar or other container and cover until needed. To use, add 1 cup of Gel per load of clothes, making sure the soap is dissolved well before adding clothes to the water. This gel works best with warm water, or dissolve it in a quart of warm water before adding it to the wash water.
Fabric Softener
1/4 cup baking soda
1/2 cup white vinegar
1) Fill the washing machine or basin with water
2) Add the baking soda, stir it around to dissolve, then add the clothes.
3) After rinsing the clothes, make a final rinse and add the vinegar to it.
The vinegar rinses away and does not leave an odor. To add a pleasant fragrance to the rinse, add 10 drops or so of Lavender essential oil to the vinegar/baking soda mix.
Another way to soften clothes is to add 1/2 cup baking soda to the wash water, or use 1 part soap flakes and 1 part borax in the wash water before you add the clothes.
About Sylvia
I made the Classic CHK Laundry Soap years ago, but didn’t care for it much. Now that I have front loader, I might give it another try. Thanks for the recipe.
What about it did you not like, Michelle? Some people don’t like the fact that it doesn’t suds much … I had a hard time getting used to that, myself.
I LOVE the Classic Laundry Soap. It’s SO inexpensive to make and it lasts forever, plus I think it cleans really well.
It is funny that this was your post.. Jason and I were just talking two days ago how we are planning on changing to all natural products and he suggested to make our own… Definitely will have to try this..
Sylvia. That was during the time I had young ones crawling around the floor and the soap, just didn’t get the clothes clean. Someone suggested I soak my clothes overnight, I just don’t have the time for that.
I understand that completely. Some people use more of the Fels to boost the cleaning power, so if you make it again, you might try that.
I actually use a 1/2 bar, it’s easier to divide that way
Because it doesn’t suds up, it is safe for front loaders, right?
That is my understanding, Michelle. I don’t have a front loading machine so I have no first hand experience.
Thanks Sylvia. I’ll “spearmint” with it and let you know. lol
this, 5 week clean-up sounds great, i am in, April 5th!!! Can’t wait!!!
Yay! I’m so glad you will join us, Sofia. I think its going to be fun and encouraging!
I use a powder laundry soap that I make myself…
1 bar of soap (fels naptha is ok, but I use plain Ivory)
1/2 cup of borax
1/2 cup washing soda
Use 2 Tbsp. per normal load of laundry.
Fabric softener…
1 cup of any cheap hair conditioner (I use Suave Juicy Green Apple)
3 cups of white vinegar
6 cups of water
Put it in a container ( I use an empty Snuggle bottle) and shake well before each use. Smells really good!
Thank you for sharing those!
I like the powder better as well, but I use zote.
I think I am going to try that softener for my sheets… my dh likes just vinegar for the clothing because there is nothing perfumy to mask his manly scent! lol I like just the vinegar for kitchen towels and bath towels because they are more absorbent… but it might be nice to go to sleep on some pretty smelling sheets Thanks!
On the Classic Laundry Soap, I noticed that it didn’t have any essential oils. Can that be added if desired?
I’m still waiting for my Fels Naptha soap to come in! Should be in any day now
)
Thank you!
Debbie
Yes, Debbie, you can add essential oil to the classic laundry soap!
Where do you find the Bar Fels Naptha soap and the Washing Soda?
I can find them both at our Kroger store. If your local stores don’t carry them, you can look up the UPC numbers of the products you want and ask the management to carry them.
Often I buy Fels at Soaps Gone Buy because they have some great sales.
Tina-
I have to buy it at the grocery store, in the laundry section. My wal-mart doesn’t carry it.
Sylvia—For the fabric softener, am I understanding your directions correctly in that after I wash the clothes using the CHK laundry soap, I would take the clothes out of the washing machine, start a rinse cycle to fill the machine with water, add the baking soda and dissolve it, and then put the clothes back in? Then do a second rinse with the vinegar added? Just trying to clarify the process. I’d like to try all of this!
—Sonya
Sonya,
You don’t have to take the clothes out of the washer if they’re already washed and wet and in the washer. Dissolve the baking soda in a little water and just add it to the rinse water. Then, to a second rinse add your 1/2 cup of vinegar.
Not everyone uses 2 rinses, but I often do and, when I do, I use the baking soda first and the vinegar second.
Yet another way is to use both the baking soda and vinegar in the rinse water. If you dissolve the baking soda in water and add it to the rinse water, then add the vinegar , you won’t get all the fizzing you get when you mix them!
I have tried this and found it left my whites VERY dingy….I don’t know if I did something wrong, or not. I tried adding extra washing soda to each wash, but it didn’t seem to help….I’d LOVE any suggestions, and am eager to try the fabric softener idea.
Jenn
I have lived in areas where the homemade detergent didn’t work well, left my whites dingy, just as you said …. and all those areas had extremely hard water. So, I am guessing here, but you could have hard water or other mineral rich water.
Another thing that can cause dingy whites is using too much detergent.
Obviously, the first thing to try is to reduce the amount of detergent you use. If you are using 1/2 per load, use 1/4 cup. If you’re using 1/4 cup then use 1/8 cup or even a tablespoon. The homemade detergent is very potent.
The only real solution to hard water dingy clothes is to soften the water. There are additives and softening systems available for that.
Hanging whites in the sun is also a big help to getting the dingy look out of them. You can also add 8 ounces of 3% hydrogen peroxide to the rinse water to get the gray and yellow out of white clothing if you don’t want to use bleach.
I’ve been making the classic recipe for a year. It not only cleans the clothes well it’s a nice solution for other household cleaning jobs. I’ve tried using Irish Spring rather then the Fels Naptha when I could not find it. (Rural King, Publix, Kroger & Schnuck’s have all 3) It cleans normal loads fine. However, the Fels Naptha greatly improves the cleaning strength. If you need to pretreat a tough spot – wet a bar of Fels Naptha and rub it on the stain. It took out set in peppermint candy from my faux lambs wool coat pocket. I wrote an email of appreciation to the manufacturers and received coupons off each product.
I keep a piece of Fels in my laundry room on a small saucer so I can wet it and use it for stain removal. It really does work wonders!
I’m not a big fan of the ingredients in the Fels Naptha bar. It has fragrance (not specified) and articial colours. Is there another brand that has natural, preferably organic ingredients? I’m thinking perhaps a castille soap?
I like the powder better as well, but I use zote.
Thanks!
I think I am going to try that softener for my sheets… my dh likes just vinegar for the clothing because there is nothing perfumy to mask his manly scent! lol I like just the vinegar for kitchen towels and bath towels because they are more absorbent… but it might be nice to go to sleep on some pretty smelling sheets
oops… posted on the wrong one, lol
Check out the ingredients for ZOTE.
Mary
You can use any other type of soap in this recipe. You won’t get the cleaning power that you get with Fels, but it will work.
From Sylvia ~ I like that fresh scent too, Dawn. I sometimes use an essential oil with the vinegar and that smells nice. I use lavender and lemon essential oils. Start with just 10 drops of oil and then add more or decrease the amount as you like. I’ve been making my own laundry soap since about 1991 when my oldest daughter was born. I’ve tried all kinds of recipes and I like my CHK Classic recipe the best. There is a new recipe up on the site today called Grammie’s Rainwater Laundry Soap and its good too but it uses a liquid detergent and sort of stretches it. You can use Fels in it instead of the liquid deterg though. Works well!
i grate 1/8 bar plain ivory soap, put in pot, cover with just enough water to cover the soap flakes, boil in water until melted, then add 400ml hot water, stir,then add 1/8 cup baking soda. i use 1/2 cup for a full load of laundry. i use 1/2 cup of distilled white vinegar to the rinse cycle
I am currently using the powdered laundry detergent recipe and I don’t like the fact that it doesn’t last as long as the liquid. I use Dr. Bronner’s soaps instead of the Fels because I don’t care for the scent of the Fels (never realized it was because of artificial scents). I add in essential oils as well. I have a front loader and only use 1 tsp-2tsp per load. I do use 1 tbsp for my husband’s work clothes, but I have never used more than that.
We use the powder version and LOVE IT! For a while we used it for our cloth diapers as well..but it was a little too much for our baby’s bum..but we use it for everything else.
We store it in a glass jar with a screw on lid and we have this cool little magnetic laundry scoop that we got from buying some cloth diaper detergent a year ago.