Welcome to the first edition of VS here on A Real-Life Housewife, where I take a look at home-made/diy compared to what you could buy at the store! I will be breaking down the cost of home-made and considering whether the effort is worth it as well as sharing my thoughts on quality for both.
Today, let’s talk about laundry detergent! Exciting, huh?! It’s been about a year now since I made the switch from using Tide to making my own. When we moved and were sharing a washer and dryer, I used what my in-laws had, which happened to be Tide. Around that same time I had the opportunity to try out and review Tide Pods. I really enjoyed the convenience of purchased detergent! So when we got our own washer and dryer, I seriously contemplated whether or not to start making my own again.
Since cost was the major factor in my decision to switch over in the first place, and because I had added oxygen cleaner to the mix, I reevaluated the cost. Take a look:
So-about a 5 dollar margin between the two. Not a huge savings, but enough that I could instead get a pedi and mani once a year!
Let’s next consider the effort involved in making your own laundry detergent. I generally make enough for around 25 loads which consists of mixing together the following:
- 1 cup Washing Soda
- 1 cup Borax
- 1 bar Fels-Naptha grated
I used to grate the bar on the big side of the grater and then use my blender to combine all the ingredients. I don’t do that anymore! Grating the bar on the small side cuts out the blender step and produces smaller soap particles.
As far as getting my clothes clean and smelling fresh, I honestly think the home-made detergent does just as good a job as Tide. It even aided pomegranate juice coming out of my toddler’s shirt! I thought the stained shirt was a lost cause, especially when I let it sit for a few days (not for experimental purposes, just pure laziness on my part), but the stains disappeared! Overall, I have been very happy with my home-made detergent! It may not be quite as fragrant as Tide, but it gets the job done.
So…what are your thoughts? Are the small savings worth the small effort of doing it yourself?
For now, they are to me. But if ever I don’t feel like making my own detergent, I’m not going to sweat it. It’s only 5 bucks!
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m so excited about this series!! I have often wondered if it’s really worth going homemade from the cost perspective… for me, with your calculations, I figured we might save $35-40 a year, and to me that isn’t worth it. Thanks for easing my guilt for buying store-bought!! :)
Seems like a lot of work for little savings. I’d rather spend my time doing something fun.
A few years ago I made my own laundry soap for quite a spell. Same ingredients, though without the oxygen cleaner, and I was making the liquid kind. (I quickly learned that was a big waste of time, and messy, and inconvenient.. powder is the way to go.)
I have gotten away from it.. Sometimes when there is a great deal on laundry soap, I stock up- often at Menard’s, I get a lot of our household & cleaning supplies there.
Their sale prices just can’t be beat.
We also had hard water, and I felt that the homemade soap just didn’t work quite as well.
However, we just installed a water softener system, and I’m considering trying homemade again when my store bought supply runs out.
Then again, now with our new soft water, I need less soap, so there is that factor as well.
I think it’s a toss up!
The biggest advantage I saw in making my own liquid soap was the elimination of trucking / shipping / hauling of all that liquid that could come from my own faucet.. and the elimination of all those plastic jugs. With the powder you may be trading packaging for packaging though.
I still use my stock of Fels Naptha on stains – I keep it in a soap dish by the laundry sink – it works great!
I agree that powder is the way to go! Haven’t used liquid in a long time. I will have to try the Fels Naptha on stains!
I made this and the DIY dishwasher detergent and was really disappointed. Stains and smells didn’t come out of clothes nearly as well as they did with the store-bought detergent. (And I use the cheapest I can get–Tide is a luxury I can’t afford!) I had to scrub the dishes before I put them in the dishwasher and my clear plastic cups always had an opaque film on them that only came off when I went back to store-bought detergent. i was really disappointed that the homemade stuff didn’t work!
I have been making my own laundry soap for about 5 months now. I do ALOT of laundry…still trying to figure out if we’re the messiest or cleanest family in town. Anyway, I can tell you that I have gotten more than 120 loads out of my homemade soap. I am still using the original batch that I made back in August! My recipe is the same as above with the addition of baking soda. I wouldn’t go back to using store bought. And for those that think that it is too time consuming, I can grate that bar of soap in just a few minutes!
Love the homemade so much more.
I have been using home made laundry soap for 6 months now. I have never owned a dryer & hang all of my laundry outside. I cannot tell a single difference in the store bought & the DIY kind. I am confused on your cost break down though. I omit the Oxyclean bringing my total cost to 4 cents per load…? Point being…I love it!
If you subtract the cost of Oxi at $5.47 from $15.49, that = $10.02. Then divide that by 120 (loads) and you have about $.08 per load! That’s an even better deal :)
(than the cost of my recipe)
I have been using this recipe for a couple of months and I do think it does a better job than Tide. I found that when I was using the Pods I would toss in two sometimes if my clothes were really dirty. The real savings you get is by substituting white vinegar for your fabric softener. Use the same amount as you would your softener. The clothes do not smell like vinegar at all and come out of the dryer soft and smelling very fresh. If I think I may have static problems I just spray a couple of squirts of Static Guard on the wet clothes then turn on the dryer. Love it!
I was told the washing soda is really bad for PVC pipes in the home, that it deteriates them over time. Anyone know if this is true?
Thanks
Can you/do you use this in an HE washer? I’ve made the liquid laundry detergent before, but not the powder and would love to try it.
Yes, I believe it is perfectly safe!
you do realize the homemade soap materials you say makes 120 loads @ $15.49 would make around 25 gallons of liquid soap. I have a family of 7 and use the liquid recipe. If we do around 400 loads per year and only make this recipe twice per year I am getting more than 120 loads out of it and more than a $5 dollar savings. The liquid recipe is less time consuming to make for me.
i just made my first batch of liquid detergent, it cost me 7.59 and i have enough supplies to make at least 2 more batches. i have about 3 gallons of detergent! it was very rewarding and cant wait to try it!
Sorry to say but the cost is off and the amount. I do the liquid. Using 1 bar of soap, the soda, and the borax, plus you can add in an essential oil, runs around $12 or less and that gives me about 5 gallons on liquid. So it’s over 260 loads for $12. I’ve had closer to 300 loads depends on what I’m washing. Takes maybe max of 45 minutes to make that huge batch and then just use the smaller containers to store. Very insightful information though.