On my quest to eliminate unnecessary waste and spending in my house, I looked to our laundry routine to see where I could trim some fat and cut some corners.
We go through a lot of laundry… I mean, a lot.
I have 3 very active sons, a husband who wears 3 different outfits a day (yes, I mean it… he works a dirty job!), and I’m constantly covered in spit up or food handprints. So our little of 5 can easily go through one load of laundry each day.
(And did I mention we cloth diaper 2 sons? That’s another load of laundry every other day!)
Once I came up with an amazing laundry routine that helps me stay on top of laundry, I had to come up with a way to save money and cut down on waste. I ditched the fabric softener and dryer sheets and got some fantastic dryer balls.
Oh my word, I love them! They fluff my towels and dry everything so quickly. If you’ve never tried wool dryer balls, you need to. They’re totally worth the investment (a whole $18 for dryer balls that could last a normal family almost 4 years… compare that to the $5 a month or more in dryer sheets), not to mention they’re organic wool, so no chemicals! Win-win for frugal and hippie!
So even before I started changing up my dryer game, I looked into making my own detergent.
The liquid detergents looked really intricate and I just didn’t have the time, patience or the space to keep it. Plus the powder looked so easy! So really-easy-powder it was!
Pinterest had a million different laundry detergent recipes that everyone claimed were “the best.” But they all had a few ingredients that were consistent: washing soda, borax, fels naptha soap, baking soda, OxiClean, and essential oil (can be omitted if you’re a scent-free detergent person).
With my one box of washing soda, one box borax, Costco-sized bag of baking soda, 1 big tub of OxiClean, 2 bars of fels naphtha soap, and my tea tree oil, I’ve made enough detergent that, as of October 2015, I haven’t needed to buy any more materials since, wait for it, NOVEMBER 2014. The materials cost right around $20.
Yes, that’s correct: I wash clothes for my family of 5, plus cloth diapers, for $20 annually.
Here’s my so-easy-my-kids-help-make-it laundry recipe:
- 2 c. each: washing soda, borax
- 1 c. OxiClean
- 1 bar fels naptha soap – cut it up then put it in a food processor until it’s tiny little pieces, or you can grate it by hand on a cheese grater.
- 1/2 c. baking soda
- Tea tree essential oil (Tea tree oil is a disinfectant. I add a drop or 2 per load of laundry, but not into the recipe itself.)
- A large, airtight container to store your detergent
Once your bar of soap is all crumbly, add everything together in a big air tight container that you’ll use for storage, and shake like crazy until everything looks nice and even.
Use 1 tbs. with each wash and you’re done!
This recipe is HE safe (since it has low suds), and you can omit the Borax for sensitive skin.
My cloth diaper recipe is very similar:
- 1 c. washing soda
- 1 c. OxiClean
- 1 c. baking soda
Combine, shake and use! 1 tbs. per load. I also add in 2 drops each tea tree oil and thieves oil for their disinfecting and antibacterial properties. Plus, they smell nice!
Soap can cause build up in the liners so the fels naptha can’t be used in the cloth diaper recipe. And my sons have sensitive skin, so we skipped the borax after a nasty rash. (You can read more about how exactly we cloth diaper here!)
Things to have on-hand for any hippie laundry detergent:
White vinegar
Super stink clothes? Musty towels? Add 1 c. to your laundry and the stink will be gone. Plus, some people say it makes towels fluffier!
Hydrogen peroxide
Never buy bleach again. This is literally incredible. It’ll get any stain out fast, and I mean it. Captain America cut his leg and decided to rub the blood on my couch (lovely, right). I sprayed hydrogen peroxide on it and it disappeared.
Oxiclean
I know you probably have this one, but I never knew about it until I started making my own detergent! This stuff is really great. It really down help get your clothes super clean and not dingy looking.
So there you have it! I still haven’t spent anything this year on my laundry supplies, and I might even make it a full year until I need to buy anything else!
I hope this works well for you, too! My life is so much easier without worrying about spending $20 or more a month on laundry detergent and dryer sheets!
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I skip the softener all together and use vinegar. It leaves my clothes so clean and crisp! I will have to check out those dryer balls!
Isn’t it so great that vinegar is so cheap AND so useful!?
I have wanted to make dyer balls for a while but keep putting it off because I don’t use any sort of dryer sheets or fabric softener. I will have to try your detergent recipe, looks awesome!!
Thanks, Hannah! I was going to ask you if you’ve ever made wool dryer balls!
great tips thanks so much I think this would be easy enough for me to do and save money for sure
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Thanks, Angie! It’s really nice and easy to make and honestly I think our clothes are even cleaner with this detergent than they were with the store bought ones!
I’ve been wondering about those dryer balls…guess I better bite the bullet and do it! And wowzer, way to go on frugal laundering! I am impressed! And going to immediately follow suit! Can’t wait to read what you have coming up about your cloth diaper routine. I’ve been struggling with just how to wash/dry them. I finally switched from microfiber liners to bamboo, and that seems to help (thus far). Thanks so much for sharing your laundry awesomeness!
How are you liking the bamboo liners? I’m still using some microfiber and come plain cotton ones.
Those wool dryer balls sound very intriguing. We use the homemade liquid with the same ingredients (concentrated for our HE), but it wouldn’t work on the cloth diapers for some reason. The baby boy broke out in a terrible rash until I finally broke down and bought an expensive organic detergent. It was reserved for his diapers exclusively, so it did last quite awhile. Visiting you today via Titus 2 Tuesday.
I deep clean all of my diapers once a month and that, coupled with the getting rid of the borax, made a difference in the rashes for my son. We also have some disposables on hand if he does get a rash so we can use some diaper rash cream on it without worrying about ruining the diapers.
This is a great idea! If only I didn’t have to pay for the actual load :/… we have a quarter operated laundry machine and dryer in our apartment complex :/
Oh no! Hopefully they at least get things super clean!
I got some dryer balls this year and I can’t agree more. I love them so much! I put a little lavender oil on them and they make my laundry smell so good. Great post!
That’s such a great idea with the lavender oil!
I’ve been making my own detergent for a couple years. I’ve only had to make two batches so far. It sure beats the money I was paying for TIDE every week! I also love repurposing the oxiclean containers. They make great little storage bins. I cover them with contact paper to make them pretty.
Thanks for sharing about the dryer balls. I’ve really been thinking about trying those and your link is handy.
That’s so great, Lauree! And what a fabulous idea with the containers, too! I was thinking of using them for my sons for outside play or in the sandbox. But I love the contact paper idea!
I love my dryer balls. I’ve had them a couple years and never looked back! I also use a similar detergent recipe and put vinegar in my fabric softener dispenser. I love that it is so inexpensive when I remember I use to spend so much money monthly to buy detergent, softener and dryer sheets!
I loved doing that with vinegar when I could! I think it worked better than the fabric softener anyway!
I’ve been thinking about switching to homemade laundry soap. I’m saving this for future reference. Thanks!
This. Is. Amazing! I do cloth diapers as well, and I already love how much money they save, but I had no clue that there was more I could do to make those loads stretch. Only a tablespoon of detergent per load is amazing! Thanks for this post. 🙂
You’re so welcome! I hope this works for you!
I am definitely checking more into this! We spend so much on laundry detergent. Messy kid, messy husband!
liz @ sundays with sophie
Oh my gosh, I hear you! It’s really great if you want to try it out! It’s so easy and inexpensive to even try it out.
Great tips. I love Oxiclean. Have used it for years. My husband’s work clothes are pretty dirty and it gets the stains out like no other. Thanks for sharing these tips on Tuesday Talk this week.
I love Oxiclean so much! I was so shocked that I survived for so long without it!
I do the DIY powdered detergent but I had no idea about the dryer balls! I’ll have to invest thanks!
It’s so worth it, Helene!
This is a great tip! I was wondering about the washing cloth diapers, until I got to the bottom, because honestly that’s like my biggest laundry hog. Do you also have a tip on washing wool? I use wool soakers for overnight diapering and would really love to find a DIY way to wash them without having to keep buying Euclan. Found this via Thank Goodness It’s Thursday. <3
I never heard of wool soakers, I’ll have to try them! My older is 23 months and the cotton liners need to be replaced halfway through the night. I got some bamboo liners so I’m hoping they’ll work out well. I’ll have to try those wool ones!
I make my own laundry soap too. It saves a lot of money!!
My recipe is slightly different – I might give yours a whirl.
Pinning this to my Deliberate CLEANING board.
Thanks for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop).
Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo
Thanks so much, Jennifer! I hope it works out for you!
Thank you for sharing your great laundry ideas on the Art of Home-Making Mondays Caroline! 🙂
You and your laundry routine totally rock. I’m almost out of detergent and have had the idea to make my own for a long time now. I think I’ll try your recipe. Thanks!
Definitely give it a try! If you hate it, at least then you have some awesome laundry boosters with the Borax and Washing Soda! But I still hope it works out for you!
That’s awesome Caroline! I am going to use the white vinegar tip on the stinky towels! Thank you for linking up with #100happydays!
Thanks, Valerie! I also use vinegar in almost every load of laundry as a kind of fabric softener. It’s incredibly awesome!
This is a much better recipe than the one I have been using. Adding oxyclean and tea tree oil are great suggestions. I am going to try it next time around.
Thanks, Katie! I love those additions! They changed my whole routine. Try four thieves oil, too. I really like the combination of the 2 oil.
Thanks for sharing this with the 100 Happy Days linkup! What a great idea about the dryer balls! I’m a wanna-be-hippie & always love trying new “organic” and “natural” ideas. Thanks for sharing these. So helpful!
You HAVE to try the dryer balls! They’ve changed my whole routine!
Wow what an achievement! Great for the family budget I’m sure. Thanks for sharing your tips on saving money with us at #anythinggoes.
I have been meaning to get dryer balls for a while. Thanks for the reminder of how much I am missing!
I am a huge fan of DIY laundry detergent as well! Thanks for sharing your recipe on FTAF. I have thought about the dryer balls in the past, but haven’t tried them yet. I’ll have to invest. I’ve been using nothing. A little static-y, but honestly I’ve gotten used to it And I really only do my husbands laundry, my youngests, and my own. The other 3 do their own. So… not too bad. 🙂
Do you have any trouble with the soap in the detergent dissolving? I made homemade with Ivory and it just stuck in clumps to the clothes.
Just got dryer balls. Score! Saves me a lot!
Do you have a septic system and if so does this detergent seem to slow down or kill your bacteria process?
I don’t have a septic system. But I’d bet you could Google the effects of each of the ingredients on a septic system before trying it out! Since there are only a handful of ingredients and they’re not chemical in any way, I can’t imagine that it would do any more harm than normal laundry detergent. Let me know what you find!
Is the detergent safe to use on newborn and sensitive skin children’s clothes? Wasn’t sure about the oxiclean… Thanks!
Hi Lyndi! I’ve used this on my baby’s clothes since the day he was born and he’s never had trouble with his skin. All of my sons have VERY sensitive skin, but this never affected them at all! I hope this helps! 🙂
Thanks for posting this! it looks really interesting, I recently graduated from college and I honestly click on just about anything that has the word “budget” or anything similar.
My family on my father’s side are originally from Venezuela and the Naptha soap reminds me a lot of our “Jabon Azul” or Blue Soap and usually use is as a spot treatment/prewash. You wet a sliver of it and gently brush it with an old toothbrush until you have a soft paste and you work that into stains and trouble spots (armpits, crotch, collar) before tossing it in the washing machine.
Also I was wondering if the recipe for the cloth diapers would be the best options for say, washing bras and other delicates? and is the Hydrogen peroxide and Oxiclean like bleach as in I can’t use it on colors?
Thanks again for this amazing post!
I’m glad it helped, Barbara! You can absolutely use the cloth diaper “recipe” for delicates! It’s probably best to avoid soap build up in light fabrics or things that you want to be absorbent. You can use the Oxiclean for colors and it has never affected them. There used to be commercials or it growing up where they’d show the before and afters on colored clothes and there was never a problem. They even suggest that it brightens colors and gets rid of the dingy color that some clothes take on after a while. As for the hydrogen peroxide, I use that exclusively for whites or really light colors. It’s a surprisingly powerful little solution! I hope that helps!
Thank you for explaining how you used the soap and toothbrush for stains. I’d never heard of that method before. I want to try it.
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Don’t want to read all the comments but I have one question. What about the electric bill. Surely it’s not included in the $20, right?
You’re right, Eunice! Thank you so much for reminding me to include that in a disclaimer! Although, I only use cold water so there’s no paying for the hot water, but you’re so right!
Is this recipe “h.e.” safe for all machines?
Hi Brenda! I had to do some research on this, since I have an old-school washing machine. The general consensus is that since none of the ingredients create much (if any at all) suds, it’s H.E. safe. I can honestly say that I don’t think I’ve ever seen suds of any kind in the machine when it’s running, so with that being the main concern with H.E. machines, I think it’s safe! Let me know if you try it out, and if you had any problems! I’ve never had anyone complain to me about it not working in an H.E. washer yet, so I’m hoping that’s a good sign that it works!
I’m definitely going to try this detergent! Wondering if you’ve found the borax, washing powder and soap at a better price at a certain store?
Hi Rachel! I’ve found Walmart to have the best prices on these things. I tried looking online on Amazon, but the prices in-store at Walmart are a lot better. It’s usually around $2 (don’t quote me on that though, I haven’t needed to buy it in quite a while!) for the borax and the washing soda, and it’s less than $1 for the Fels Naptha soap. All of the ingredients are usually on the same shelf, which makes it nice and easy to find!
I bought all the ingredients to make my detergent and my washer broke! So I replaced it with an HE. Do you know if this detergent works well with high efficiency washers??
Oh no! That’s the worst when washers break!!!! Personally, I don’t know if they work for HE machines (my machine is the old school washer). But the washing soda says that it’s HE safe and the Oxiclean is also HE safe. The biggest concern for HE machines is the suds, and there’s barely any suds from the recipe at all (and I mean there’s no suds… if you look at it in the wash you’d wonder if it was there at all). So the general consensus is that this is an HE-safe recipe. Let me know how it works for you!!
Great post, thank you for all the useful information! LOVE my wool dryer balls and am huge fan of Charlie’s powdered laundry soap which says on the package not to use vinegar, so a bit of a cost savings there.
I have made homemade laundry soap in the past (substituting the Fels Naptha with Dr. Bronner soap bar) and it just did not perform close to Charlie’s…
I was wondering if the recipe you give makes a whole years worth of detergent or are you mixing all the ingredients on hand a little at a time? A little confused, I’m new to all this. I just know I’m in the store every two weeks buying Tide, so I’m anxious to try a new method. Thanks
Hey Kim! I mix everything together before hand and just scoop it out like regular powdered detergent. I hope that helps!
Just found this on Pinterest and it’s very similar to the one I’ve been using for a few years now. I do use Borax in mine. I also have an HE washer and instead of putting the detergent in the dispenser, I just toss it in with the laundry. My detergent NEVER last as long as yours and I use it just for me. I usually get around 35 loads out of each batch and my loads aren’t very big. I’m going to try those dryer balls. I don’t use anything in the dryer since I use white vinegar and my clothes come out pretty soft. Great post.
White vinegar really is amazing, Kim! And dryer balls really save a lot of money. They’re also supposed to save on how long it takes to dry clothes, but I truly can’t attest to that… I stuff as many clothes as I can in my dryer each time so I always run it on the full cycle. 🙂
I have also been making my own laundry detergent for years. To make it even cheaper I dropped the name brand Oxiclean and start buying generic from Dollat Tree, $1.00 a jar and works just as well!!!
Hi Caroline,
I realize this is an old post so I don’t know if you will see this. I made almost this exact detergent recipe and it worked for a while but towards the end of the batch the felds naptha soap wasn’t dissolving and it was leaving little white spots all over the clothes. Just wondering if you have had this problem. Maybe I didn’t grind it up fine enough?
Hi, Kristi!
We recently ditched the Fels Naptha altogether after hearing about it giving people trouble with their washing machines and building up gunk on clothes and such. Honestly, our clothes are clean and definitely don’t have any residue that I’ve noticed. 🙂