Non-Toxic Liquid Laundry Soap
In this post & video, I’ll show you how to make your own liquid laundry soap with non-toxic ingredients. I’ve been using this laundry soap for our family of 6 for years!
There are two reasons I make my own laundry soap:
- It’s exponentially cheaper
- It’s truly non-toxic
The leading “clean” laundry soaps can run around $10/gallon. That adds up quickly when you have a larger family and do lots of laundry. I wash farm clothes, work clothes, cloth diapers, sports uniforms, and our daily clothes – that’s a lot of clothes and a lot of laundry soap.
My homemade laundry soap costs about 75 cents per gallon and takes very little time and effort to make.
As I mentioned, I do use it for cloth diapers and it works great for me, but many people say it is not strong enough to break down human waste. I do breastfeed and breastmilk poop is water soluble, so that may be why I’ve had good luck with it. I also line dry diapers whenever possible.
Options for adding natural scent
Most people make this recipe with essential oils. EOs are very convenient and they do smell great. However, I’ve been moving away from using them in our daily products. It takes a ton of plant matter to get one tiny bottle of EO – and EO is an isolate.
I prefer using whole plants/herbs. I’ve been making an herbal infusion with lemon balm to scent my liquid laundry soap and it smells great! Lemon balm is a very easy herb to grow in the garden and is great for making all kinds of cleaning solutions. As are lavender and many other fragrant herbs.
Bar Soap Options
Most people who make their own laundry soap use fels naptha bar soap. However, it does contain talc so I prefer not to use it. Zote is a popular non-toxic option. I use Castile soap and it works really well plus grates very easily. I’m not a total purist, but if I’m going to go to the trouble to make my own laundry soap – I want it to be free of toxins.
Supplies You’ll Need
- 6 ounces Castile Bar Soap
- 1 cup of Borax
- 1 cup of Super Washing Soda
- grater
- 5-gallon bucket
- essential oils or a handful of fresh herbs (optional)
How to Make Your Own Liquid Laundry Soap
- Heat 4 cups of water or fragrant herbal infusion on the stove on low-medium
- Grate 6 ounces of Castile bar soap
- Add the grated soap to the hot water/infusion and stir until its melted
- Fill a 5-gallon bucket halfway with hot water
- Add 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of washing soda to the 5-gallon bucket and stir until dissolved into the hot water
- Pour the melted soap mixture into the 5-gallon bucket and continue stirring.
- Top the 5-gallon bucket off with hot water, put a lid on it, and let it rest for 24 hours.
- After 24 hours, it is ready to use. It will look cloudy and be slightly gelled. It will not gel and be soupy/clumpy like laundry soap made with fels naptha and other bar soaps. That’s ok!
- Use 1/2 cup per load, shake before use
![holding a gallon of homemade laundry soap]()
Non-Toxic Liquid Laundry Soap
Yield: 5 gallonsperfect for large families
Materials
- 6 ounces Castile Bar Soap
- 1 cup of Borax
- 1 cup of Super Washing Soda
- 5-gallon bucket
- essential oils or a handful of fresh herbs (optional)
Tools
- grater
Instructions
- Heat 4 cups of water or fragrant herbal infusion on the stove on low-medium
- Grate 6 ounces of Castile bar soap
- Add the grated soap to the hot water/infusion and stir until its melted
- Fill a 5-gallon bucket halfway with hot water
- Add 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of washing soda to the 5 gallon bucket and stir until dissolved into the hot water
- Pour the melted soap mixture into the 5 gallon bucket and continue stirring.
- Top the 5 gallon bucket off with hot water, put a lid on it, and let it rest for 24 hours.
- After 24 hours, it is ready to use. It will look cloudy and be slightly gelled. It will not gel and be soupy/clumpy like laundry soap made with fels naptha and other bar soaps. That's ok!
- Use 1/2 cup per load, shake before use
Notes
- If you'll be using an herbal infusion for step 1, make it a day in advance by adding your fresh herbs to a quart jar, topping it off with hot water, sealing, and letting it steep for several hours or a day. Strain the infusion through a cheesecltoh to remove herbs and sediment prior to heating for step 1.
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Thank you for sharing this! Can you comment on what you do for stains or is this pretty effective for that? I’ve been using non toxic detergent but find that it doesn’t list stains well and leaves a residue on my clothes.
So I’ve been planning on making this recipe for quite some time, but in the busyness of life, I’m just now getting around to making it (I also just ran out of laundry soap). I made an herbal infusion and set it in the fridge for when I was ready to make the soap which has been about a month now. Is that still okay to use? I figure it would still be good since the soap is being stored at room temp once it’s made but thought I would still ask my silly question anyway just to be sure.
I would love to make this recipe, BUT i live in south america and i don’t know if i can get those ingredients here. I could order them from the US, but than it will be so expensive soap. Could you please tell me, how you called them in spanish? Like Borax, castile soap, washing soda( is it baking soda)?? I used to make my own bar soap when we butcherd our own cow, i used the tallow with lye..and is not toxin free.
I would love to make this recipe, BUT i live in south america and i don’t know if i can get those ingredients here. I could order them from the US, but than it will be so expensive soap. Could you please tell me, how you called them in spanish? Like Borax, castile soap, washing soda( is it baking soda)?? I used to make my own bar soap when we butcherd our own cow, i used the tallow with lye..and is not toxin free.