DIY: Laundry Soap for Less

Most of us have some sort of laundry schedule, be it weekly, bi-weekly or even daily. (I'm sure that some mothers of infants or young children could contend that their laundry schedule is once every few hours!) Even for those who try to limit the amount of washings they do, that's still a lot of water - and detergent - on a monthly and yearly basis. Do you ever wonder how all that detergent affects your local fresh water sources?

Unfortunately, many of the ingredients commonly found in laundry detergents can have harmful effects on aquatic ecosystems - as this website from the EPA shows, things such as surfacants, bleaches, solvents and brighteners are toxic to fish, frogs and other animals, including humans. Other concerns include the changing of an aquatic ecosystem's pH levels, as well as the possibility of eutrophication, defined by the EPA as, "the process by which a body of water becomes rich in dissolved nutrients, diminishing oxygen levels and a water body's ability to support various forms of aquatic life." Add to this the possibility of these chemicals and byproducts entering your local water supply, and it's quite a big mess for a load of dirty clothes.

I was understandibly concerned about how my laundry days may have been effecting the local environment, so I decided to look into alternatives that were both eco-friendly and easy on my wallet. I ended up discovering that you can make your own laundry detergent for a fairly low cost and with minimal ingredients. After poking around online, I found a great DIY tutorial for laundry soap at Instructables that I tried with a friend. I'll be using the basic formula from the tutorial (since that's where I learned it) and adding my own insights into the process.

You Will Need:

1) Bar Soap
- You can use either laundry bar soap or normal bath/body bar soap, though if you use the latter, I would avoid any that contain creams, lotions, oils or other skin-conditioning additives. (Try Ivory, plain white Dial, Pure and Natural or Kirk's.) When it comes to laundry soaps, there are many people who swear by Fels-Naptha, though I've heard that some of the ingredients may be less than eco-friendly. There's also Lirio and Zote, which come in fun colors in addition to working well and smelling nice.

2) Washing Soda
- This is a detergent booster that's usually found in the laundry detergent aisle. I have heard that it's mildly toxic, though I have no first hand experience or accounts to corroborate that claim. Still, it's probably best to keep it out of reach of children.

3) Borax
- This is usually found in the same places as the washing soda.

The "how to" portion of this is pretty straightforward. Using a cheese/vegetable grater, shave your soap of choice until you have one (1) measured cup. Harder soaps such as Fels and Ivory should flake well; Lirio and Zote are softer and tend to grate more into strings, like a soft cheese. If you want these strings to become flakes, you may want to take the added step of putting the shavings into a food processor. I usually keep the strings intact when working with Lirio and Zote, and I really haven't noticed too much of a difference.

After you make your soap flakes, add 1/2 cup of borax and 1/2 cup of washing soda. Stir this up to make sure the soap flakes are evenly mixed in, and voila - laundry soap! There is a way to make this into a liquid soap, but I've never tried this method. (Those who are interested can check out the Instructables tutorial or this one from The Simple Dollar.) If anyone does give it a shot, be sure to let me know how it goes.

So, will this detergent actually clean your clothes? The main answer is yes, though there are some caveats.

First, you may notice that over time, your clothes have a sort of film or coating on them. I believe this may be from the soap itself, as bar soap doesn't contain chemicals that helps to rinse the soap away. This isn't an altogether bad thing, though - this coating doesn't discolor clothes, and it seems to make them slightly waterproof and slightly stain-resistant. This may be a downside for certain washables, such as cloth diapers, towels, cleaning rags and so on, but it could be an advantage for other types of clothing. As always, make sure that the clothes you put in the washing machine are meant for such treatment - I don't know how this recipe would affect silk or other such fabrics because I've never used it on them.

The next thing to be aware of is while the film left on the clothes doesn't stain them, the soap itself might. I accidentally ruined one of my favorite white cotton shirts that way. The soap, you see, works best when it's allowed to dissolve for a bit as the washing machine is filling. I made the mistake of throwing the shirt directly on top of this detergent as the machine filled up. Though I can't prove it, I think that the dye in the soap transfered onto the fabric, leaving a yellow streak. However, I didn't have any problems when I let the soap dissolve in the wash water first.

Lastly, this detergent may not work as well in high efficiency (HE) washing machines. These machines use less water, so the detergent may not dissolve as well as it would in a conventional machine. (The incident with the ruined shirt took place with an HE machine.) That said, I have heard of people using their homemade detergents with HE washers and having no problems at all. Perhaps they used the liquid version instead of the powdered?

All in all, I'd heartily recommend this detergent for those who are looking to save money and keep their waterways clean. While most conventional detergents call for cap or cupfulls of their product to do the job, this homemade version takes only 1-2 tablespoons to do the same job. (One tablespoon is usually sufficient for normal loads, while two is best for large or heavily soiled ones.) As catalogued by The Simple Dollar, this is quite a cost savings - and that doesn't even take into account the environmental benefits of fewer chemicals and no plastic packaging.

So, have you tried this method? What did you think of the results? Do you have any tips to improve the recipe, or anything you think our readers should know? Leave me a comment or two.

Current Book: The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz
Current Music: Amazing Baby - Pump Your Brakes