Making your own laundry detergent/stain remover, what would you use?

[AliOop]

Where did you purchase the enzyme powders? I’ve been looking for some without success.

I used a couple of different premade ones off the grocery store shelf, like Oxyclean.

 

[Kiti Williams]

Here is mine. We have been using this for over 20 years and have had no dulling or nasty buildups.

Duggar Recipe: Liquid Laundry Soap​

One of the numerous, out-of-the-box ways the Duggars save money is by making their own liquid laundry soap. I use a cup of white vinegar in the rinse.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap
(Front or top load machine-best value)

Ingredients:

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar*
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda**
½ Cup Borax

Directions:

-Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*Visit the Fels-Naptha website to find a store in your area that carries the product.
**Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!
​

 

[Jackie H]

Because I want to try to make my own! Both laundry detergent generally, but probably even stain remover more so.

But what would you use? What oils to make the soap? Would it be lye based because easier/better to use hard soaps (like Zote of Fels Naptha, easier/better to just throw a small piece into the washer or to rub some onto stains so that it sticks to them?), or potash based because liquid soaps better (easier to just pour into the washer or spray onto clothes)?

What "additions" would you add to the soap to make it clean better? Thinks like vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, etc. etc.

Thanks!!!

I just switched to this recipe and I LOVE it! I used to use a recipe with borax but it’s cold in my house and it would always get chunky. This is just your laundry bar (I also used this YouTubers 100% coconut bar recipe for my laundry bar, she has a recipe for a cleaning bar), washing soda and water.
Again, it’s cold in my house so for me this is a pretty solid (think solid coconut oil) soap that I have to scoop out with a spoon, but it washes with no problems and I wash our clothes with cold water. I’ve never had any build up problems or anything.

 

[Servant4Christ]

I just switched to this recipe and I LOVE it! I used to use a recipe with borax but it’s cold in my house and it would always get chunky. This is just your laundry bar (I also used this YouTubers 100% coconut bar recipe for my laundry bar, she has a recipe for a cleaning bar), washing soda and water.
Again, it’s cold in my house so for me this is a pretty solid (think solid coconut oil) soap that I have to scoop out with a spoon, but it washes with no problems and I wash our clothes with cold water. I’ve never had any build up problems or anything.

Thank you! I totally forgot about this one! Elly now has a true liquid KOH laundry recipe that I might actually make today to try since it looks like a straightforward high cleansing liquid soap recipe. Powdered laundry (and dishwasher) detergents just don't dissolve properly in our water and end up clogging our pipes.

 

[AliOop]

Thank you! I totally forgot about this one! Elly now has a true liquid KOH laundry recipe that I might actually make today to try since it looks like a straightforward high cleansing liquid soap recipe. Powdered laundry (and dishwasher) detergents just don't dissolve properly in our water and end up clogging our pipes.

I had wondered why she didn't just make a KOH liquid soap, instead of grating up NaOH bar soap and making it into a liquid. It sounds like she realized that this would be a much easier solution, with no grating required.

I also wondered why her diluted bar soap didn't become snotty or clumpy, as bar soap almost always does if one tries to make a liquid soap with it. Perhaps the washing soda has something to do with that? Paging @DeeAnna for her thoughts about that.

 

[Servant4Christ]

I had wondered why she didn't just make a KOH liquid soap, instead of grating up NaOH bar soap and making it into a liquid. It sounds like she realized that this would be a much easier solution, with no grating required.

I also wondered why her diluted bar soap didn't become snotty or clumpy, as bar soap almost always does if one tries to make a liquid soap with it. Perhaps the washing soda has something to do with that? Paging @DeeAnna for her thoughts about that.

When I rechecked Elly's videos, there's an update that shows that over time (and when temps got cooler) the NaOH version did gel up and had to be scooped out. I'm pretty sure anyone who's made liquid soap with grated bars has seen this effect that usually takes place over time or faster in cooler temps. She went back to the drawing board and made KOH soap for those who prefer liquid. I'm pretty sure any KOH recipe with 0% SF and high cleansing value would work. The unknown would be how much to use in individual washing machines since some are more water efficient than others. I'm going to shelve this idea for a bit because after watching both videos, I'm realizing my more recent issues with KOH soaps and that thin layer of white silty stuff on top might be explained by how old my KOH is. I'm ordering more KOH today.

 

[AliOop]

When I rechecked Elly's videos, there's an update that shows that over time (and when temps got cooler) the NaOH version did gel up and had to be scooped out. I'm pretty sure anyone who's made liquid soap with grated bars has seen this effect that usually takes place over time or faster in cooler temps.

I did see the gelling, but that's still a very different texture than what I've seen with diluted NaOH soap, which is more of snotty strings and clumps that are sitting in a bunch of separated liquid - pretty much impossible to use for anything until you take a stickblender to it right before you use it. That's so different from her homogenous gel, which seems quite usable as-is. That's what makes me suspect that the addition of washing soda (and perhaps heat) makes a difference.

I'm pretty sure any KOH recipe with 0% SF and high cleansing value would work. The unknown would be how much to use in individual washing machines since some are more water efficient than others.

I strongly agree with those concerns, especially for those who have high efficiency machines that won't tolerate lots of bubbles/foam, or ones with limited hot water options. If you noticed, she was able to directly set her water temperature fairly high. Most newer US machines don't offer that at all; the best one can do is select a hot wash cycle with a warm rinse cycle. Some don't even offer a hot or warm rinse at all, nor any ability to pre-fill the washer with hot water to dissolve the soap.

Those factors are so important to getting a lye-soap-based laundry detergent to work well, without leaving scum on the washer and build-up in the clothes. When I read stories of those who have great success with this soap-based laundry cleaner, they almost always have washers that allow for one or both of those things. And they almost never have hard water, either.

 

[Saltynuts]

Thanks everyone, really appreciate it! I'm still going back through everything, watching all the linked videos, etc. etc. But a few follow-up questions for now:

1. Why does everyone (or most, all who I've seen) who uses a soap based detergents seem to use NaOH soap, dissolving it down into water, instead of just using KOH soap, which is more likely a liquid I believe? Is there some reason why starting with an NaOH bar is superior as the starting point? I see some discussion of this above, but not sure which is preferred and why.

2. Why do so many people who make their soap-based detergent start with a store-bought bar, typically a Zote bar or a Fels-Naptha bar or whatever? Is there some reason why using one of those as the starting point is better than just making your own NaOH based soap (probably entirely coconut oil-based) as the starting point?

3. Why are DIY laundry detergents so different than DIY laundry stain removers? When I read or watch a youtube video about a DIY laundry detergent, its almost always involving things like the soap, the washing soda, borax, Oxyclean, those sorts of things. But whenever I read about a DIY stain remover, its almost always things like ammonia, vinegar, lemon juice, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, typically with none of those things used in the DIY detergents ever used. Why is that? If washing soda, borax, Oxyclean, etc. makes a good laundry detergent, why would not using those (maybe in a higher concentration, and possibly incorporating them into a coconut soap bar that can then be rubbed on stains for example) not be an excellent stain remover?

Thanks!

 

[Benjamin]

@AliOop and @Servant4Christ, I’ve been testing a 100% coconut oil dual lye stain stick with 5% d-limonene. It works well on fresh stains, but not as well on older oil stains (but what does?). I gave some to a friend to try—she was impressed because it got blood out of her son’s football jersey. So far, I haven’t noticed any color fading. The scent does fade quickly.