Homemade Laundry Powder

One day, whilst searching online for homemade cleaning product recipes, I came across several sites for homemade laundry soap.  Most were for liquid gooey looking messes in 5 or 10 gallon buckets and I was looking for a soap powder.  Those I found were all pretty much the same recipe with only slight differences to them.

I was curious to try them as I would like to be using things that are less harmful to the planet and might save a few dollars.  So, I finally decided to give it a try.

Yes, I inherited blue counter tops when I moved in here . . . don't judge!  ;)

I picked up some Zote laundry soap.  I had to go to one of the local ethnic supermarkets to find it.  But, they are close, so I didn't have to drive way out of my way to find it.  Many of the recipes indicated you could also use Fels Naptha or even Ivory.  But, Fels and Zote are labeled as specifically for laundry.  The Zote is a pretty pink and has a nice clean smell.  That was the first thing I noticed when I opened the package.

Unfortunately, I was so excited to finally start on this project, I forgot to get photos of the packaging on the Zote or a pic of the unwrapped full bar.  I remembered about half way through the second bar!  Whooops!  :)  I tried just using a cheese grater on the soap, but it didn't get as fine a powder as I was looking for.  So, after I ran it through the grater, I plopped it into my mini food processor.  It is a breeze to clean compared to my full size one!  Better!  I tried just running chunks of the soap through the processor, but it was still a little large for me, knowing I may have problems with getting it to dissolve, so I used the cheese grater and the processor on all the rest.  I figure, I wash those items in soap anyway, so it should be safe to use them for this as long as I wash them right afterwards and don't let them sit around in the soap too long to absorb the scent.

Right now, I am just using a portable washer that my mom gave me to bail me out until I get a new washer.  (It's a long story!)  Thanks, mom! ! !  **waiving at mom**  I am limited to using cold water, so I plan on dissolving the soap in a little hot water first a few minutes before I add it to the machine.  I'll put a load in in a few minutes so I can report back how this works for me by the end of this post!

So, the details:

     2 bars grated soap (Zote, Fels Naptha, Ivory or similar)

     2 Cups Borax

     2 Cups Washing Soda (not the same as baking soda, but there were recipes    that used the baking soda as well)

Use 2 tablespoons per wash.  Since this doesn't create suds, it is claimed to be safe for front as well as top loading machines.  I can't vouch for the front loader, so don't hold me to this!  If you want to try it, you might want to do your research first!  I ended up with probably about 8 cups of laundry powder.  I did not actually measure it, I am just eyeballing it for an estimate!

I put the scoop in just because I thought it would
look better than a puny little measuring spoon!  ;)

And the results:

     ** Note:  I put 4 tablespoons in a cup and added hot water and stirred it up, and stirred and stirred.  It didn't quite fully dissolve, but close . . .  so I poured some into the washer while it was filling with water and then added the clothes just a bit later, but before it was filled with water.  I did the first load and then during the time it took to do the first load, the soap that was left in the cup had turned into a thick gel-like substance.  But, it turned more liquid as I stirred it up again.

     1st load - 1 small light blue blanket

          came out clean, smelling fresh - no visible soap residue

     2nd load - 3 black pants

          came out clean, smelling fresh - no visible soap residue
     3rd load - 2 bath rugs
          also came out clean, smelling fresh with no visible soap residue

     **Note: It seems that even though the soap did not fully dissolve, I did not see any traces of it left in my clothes or inside the washer.  I don't know if there might be any build up inside in places that are not easily visible, but I feel like it pretty much either did get dissolved in the wash or got drained out during the drain cycles.

Anyway, so, there you have it!  I think it works for me!  If you try it, I hope it works for you as well!

BTW . . .  Happy Leap Year Day!  ;)