Maybe you remember that earlier this month, I told you about the homemade laundry soap that many of the ladies at church have started making. I’ve gotten several emails from readers, most of them asking, “Will this work in my high efficiency washer?”
I have good news for you. Yes, the same ingredients will work in your HE washer. However, you may need to adjust the amount of the ingredients. In the meantime, if you’re using the original recipe, it’s still a low-sudsing detergent that won’t harm anything. But if you want even more savings, here is the HE recipe, which is used by The Duggars. It still costs less than $5 to make a big batch, makes ten gallons of soap, and lasts the Duggar family for about three months!
1 Fels Naptha bar, grated
1 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda
1/2 cup 20 Mule Team borax
Grate the bar of soap in a small saucepan. Cover with hot water. Cook at medium-low heat, stirring continually until soap is dissolved.
Put washing soda and borax into five gallon bucket. Pour in the hot, melted soap mixture. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to the top with more hot tap water. Stir, cover securely, and let sit overnight. Stir the mixture in the morning. Mix equal amounts of the soap concentrate and water in a smaller laundry detergent bottle. Shake before using.
For front loading machines, use 1/3 cup per load.
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Can’t wait to try this! Thanks for the recipe/explanations/tips! Sounds easy enough… Blessings!
You’re welcome! It really IS easy. Took me longer to take pictures and post about it than it did to make the actual soap. Enjoy!
[...] Homemade laundry soap – yes, I make my own, and I get plenty of questions about it. You can read my blog post on it here, which includes ingredients and pictures to show you how to make it, if you’re interested. Have an HE (high efficiency) washer? No problem! The soap recipe for that is here. [...]
Have been making this for several yrs now. Use it in my HE washer. I mostly use it for my colored clothes only and use the name brand which I got on sale and with coupons on my whites. Works great for me.
I should probably do that for my whites, too. If there were anything I would change about the laundry soap, it’s that the whites aren’t as white after awhile. Good idea!