Trial Size Homemade Laundry Soap

One of the things I really liked about my homemade laundry soap recipe was that I could make it in a big batch with no measuring. Once the bar soap was grated, it was just a matter of opening boxes or containers, dumping the contents and stirring everything together. Once that was done I had a large batch that would last for many, many months.

But this week a reader emailed me asking if I had a recipe for my homemade laundry soap in a smaller size. She wanted to test it out, but didn’t want to be stuck with a big batch if she didn’t like it. And I totally get that. The “big batch” aspect of my recipe is a positive if you know you’ll put it all to good use, but it can also be a negative for those that aren’t sure if they’ll like it or not.

Trial Size Homemade Laundry Soap - 3 small batch recipes for giving homemade laundry soap a try without making a large batch.

So today I’ve a got three “trial size” recipes for you that will let you stir together some homemade laundry soap without having to make the commitment to a large batch of the stuff. Of course you’ll still have to buy complete boxes of the ingredients (like borax or washing soda) but the leftovers can be used in other ways around the house too. For instance I use washing soda in my homemade Peppermint Soap Spray Cleaner, and I use borax to clean my combs and brushes.  (You may want to try this strategy to keep your borax and washing soda from getting clumpy or hard).

To come up with some of my calculations I went back to my notes from a few years ago when I actually measured out an entire box of borax and an entire box of washing soda. Yes, I actually do that kind of stuff!  I also used my measurement conversion chart which is super helpful when I work on these type of projects.

Trial Size Homemade Laundry Soap - 3 small batch recipes for giving homemade laundry soap a try without making a large batch.

Smaller Option #1 – Homemade Powdered Laundry Soap

The recent reader request was for a small size batch of my homemade laundry soap: version 2 that also includes OxiClean and laundry crystals (like Purex) in the mixture, so I’ll start off with that recipe. This is a homemade laundry soap that includes grated Fels Naptha laundry soap.  The trial size recipe below uses just half of a bar of soap. If you’d like to use up the complete bar of soap you can simply double the other ingredients (see the note below).

Trial Size Homemade Powdered Laundry Soap

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Ingredients: 

  • 1½ cups Borax
  • 1 cup Washing Soda
  • 1 cup Oxi-Clean
  • ½ cup Laundry Crystals (like the Purex brand)
  • ½ a bar of Fels Naptha Soap– grated

Combine all ingredients and store in a container with a tight fitting cover or lid.  Use about 2 tablespoons per load of laundry. This trial size will make about 4½ cups which is enough to do about 36 loads of laundry.

Note:  You may wish to grate up and use the entire bar of Fels Naptha soap.  If you use the entire bar combine it with 3 cups borax, 2 cups washing soda, 2 cups Oxi-Clean, and 1 cup of laundry crystals. This will make about 9 cups or enough to do about 72 loads of laundry.


Trial Size Homemade Laundry Soap - 3 small batch recipes for giving homemade laundry soap a try without making a large batch.

Smaller Option #2 – Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

My homemade liquid laundry soap made with Dawn dish soap makes a gallon. This isn’t necessarily that large of a batch BUT sometimes it’s hard to come up with a large gallon sized pitcher to store it in. So this recipe is for a half-size batch that makes 2 quarts, which is the standard size of most of those plastic beverage pitchers many folks already have around the house. This smaller trial size will let you give this recipe a try using a container you may already have without having to commit to purchasing a larger gallon sized container (I found recycled gallon milk jugs didn’t work very well and weren’t really sturdy enough).

Trial Size Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap with Dawn

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Ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons Washing Soda
  • 2 tablespoons Borax
  • 1 tablespoons Dawn Dish Soap
  • 2 quarts Hot Water

Fill a 2 quart beverage container about a third of the way with very hot water.  Add the washing soda and the borax and stir to dissolve.  Fill the beverage container the rest of the way with water. Add the tablespoon of dish soap and stir it around a bit to get it into the mixture. Use about 1/4 cup per load. Makes enough to do about 32 loads of laundry


Trial Size Homemade Laundry Soap - 3 small batch recipes for giving homemade laundry soap a try without making a large batch.

Smaller Option #3 – No Grate Powdered Laundry Soap

And finally, here’s a super simple way to make a tiny batch of a homemade powdered laundry soap with no grating of bar soap needed!  I like to use this no-grate powdered recipe during busy times and it can be made in any size batch you want. It uses equal amounts of borax, washing soda, and Oxi-Clean (I usually use 2 cups of each). I’ve found that even without bar soap, this mixture does a good job of cleaning and freshening laundry. Here’s an idea for a trial size batch.

Trial Size Homemade No-Grate Powdered Laundry Soap

Print These Recipes

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup Borax
  • ½ cup Washing Soda
  • ½ cup Oxi-Clean

Combine all ingredients and store in a container with a tight fitting cover or lid. For this mixture I use about 3 tablespoons per load.  This trial size batch will do about 8 loads of laundry.

Trial Size Homemade Laundry Soap - 3 small batch recipes for giving homemade laundry soap a try without making a large batch.

So those are three ways you can make some homemade laundry soap in smaller sized batches if you’re not yet sure you want to make one of the bigger sized recipes. And in case you missed it above you can print these recipes here. If you ARE ready to forge ahead with a larger recipe, here are the links again to the full sized versions of the recipes above:

Big Batch Homemade Powdered Laundry Soap
Gallon Size Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap with Dawn
Full Size No Grate Powdered Laundry Soap

And you can read more of my homemade laundry ideas here – – > Homemade Laundry Ideas and Info

 

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11 Comments

    1. Sometimes it’s the borax that fade dark colors a bit. So I would opt for the liquid Dawn mixture that has a little less borax in the ratio of ingredients if you are concerned about darker colors.

  1. I made the homemade liquid recipe with borax, washing soda, and dawn. I used very hot water to desolve everything. After a few days I had chunks of something in my liquid detergent. I made a gallon. What did I do wrong? Are any of these items something my husband could be allergic to?

  2. Can one use a bar of grated Ivory soap instead of Fels Naptha? Would this be less likely to cause dingy clothes?

    1. I used to make some of my mixtures with Ivory soap. It did seem after a while that Ivory soap could build up tii (just like Fels Naptha) and make whites dingy.

  3. Good day Bev,
    I just wanted to let you know how much I really enjoy your blog. I get all happy every time I see I have an E-mail from you! You are doing a great job and you are appreciated☺
    Blessings to you!
    Minnie

    1. Aww, thanks for your kind words Minnie! I’m glad you enjoy things around here and I hope you’ve found some useful info too!