Are You sick of High Priced Laundry Soap then you are like everyone else. Some of these detergents are now easily into the $15 per gallon range and they aren’t specialty formulas. For that amount of money you might only get 75 to 90 loads which might sound like a lot until you realize that most of the time you are adding more than the recommended amount to get reasonable results. Whether you are single or you have a family it seems like doing one of your most basic chores has now doubled in cost.
If you are interested in saving money there are a lot of people out there who have been using basic products to produce gallons and gallons of concentrate which you can dilute as you need to make more. However there are a lot of considerations and we will cover some of the more important ones.
First off High Efficiency washing machines that are still under warranty should really only use HE Formulated Detergents and unfortunately they cost quit a bit more than even the average products. For everyone else you can use whatever soaps and detergents that you feel work best for you.
All of the products that you can use to make your own Clothes Washing Detergent are readily available you don’t need to find special sources for most of these items and to make it easier we will just use a commercial product to add in a bunch of the primary and secondary chemicals all at once.
There are only a few basic ingredients and you can find them on the back of your favorite brands. Although they don’t give you the formulas you can collect the basic chemical names and then look up what they are commonly called. The closer to the top of the list the more of that chemical is used so expect to see Water as the first ingredient on all liquid Detergents.
Sodium Carbonate – washing soda – Easily Available as a powder in a Box at most stores.
Sodium Laureth Sulfate – Causes Bubbles like in shampoo or dish washing detergent. It is often derived from palm kernel oil or coconut oil. Look on the container for it before you buy.
Sodium Chloride – Common Table Salt
Borax – removes soap scum, hard water deposits, and dirt. Comes in Powder in a Box at most stores.
Sodium Bicarbonate – baking soda. You can add this but very few products have it. If your favorite brand does then add some to your soap.
There are many other chemicals that companies use in Cloth Washing Detergent but they are normally in very small amounts and only found in one brand. You want to stick to main ingredients that are found across many brands. The items above are some of the most common ones.
Other Basic Ingredients
A lot of people start off using a product called ZOTE as their base ingredient. It can be found in a Bar Soap or in flakes. A 14oz Bar is about $2 and to use it you grate it up with a cheese grater and then add very hot water to melt it. The problem with this product is that it contains Animal Fat Tallow and this can cause a soapy residue on your clothes and in your washing machine if you use a lot of it quite often. It is more of a problem for High Efficiency Front Loading Machines than any of the others but it is something to keep in mind. Also the residue if it builds up on your clothes can make them dull and reports of the Tallow actually repelling water on towels so thats not a great thing. However this bar soap is a very popular base ingredient that many people start with because its so cheap.
One Option that really should be exploited is picking up the largest container of soap at your dollar store to use as a base. Cloth Washing, Shampoo or Dish Washing Soap With a Good Heavy Scent. It is likely to contain Sodium Laureth Sulfate which is a necessary ingredient to add to your detergent. Also you might find a scented bath or shampoo item you can use. The stronger the better because it will be diluted a lot.
Mixing Up Your Batch Of Laundry Detergent
How much you want to make and how concentrated you want to make it is going to determine the amount of storage containers you will need. A lot of people save old laundry soap containers. I would suggest the push button spout ones if you do.
The more concentrated you make the main batch just means you will need to dilute it when you’re ready to use it or just add less of it to your wash.
Most likely you’re going to want to make your Washing Soda and your Container of Cheap Starter Soap your Base and then you can add other things as you like such as borax or baking soda. Finally finish up with water to assure the mixture is ready to use.
Final Note
Everyone has their own favorite formulas and you can search them out but the most important thing is to test your soap on items that you won’t freak out about if the soap you mixed up is a little strong. Honestly though you’re not going to go too wrong if you stick to ingredients that are found in most commercial detergents.