DIY Natural Laundry Soap That Works

With Only Two Ingredients

Have you read the ingredient list on even “all natural” laundry detergent? How about a DIY natural laundry soap that works?

Can you pronounce those ingredients? What is the basis for the claim that they are natural? Does the term “plant derived” mean what the average person would think it means?

One of the best natural detergents I use has only seven ingredients – including the water. The first ingredient after filtered water is sodium oleate. Sodium oleate actually has a safety data sheet that lists side effects of contact including skin and eye irritation as well as irritation to the digestive tract. That might not be a big deal – but then it might. What if your teething baby is sucking on a frozen washcloth? Does the potential residue matter? I think it does.

And, by the way, sodium oleate is made from olive oil and other plants. It is plant derived, but it’s so processed and concentrated that it can be irritating.

The next ingredient is lauryl alcohol ethoxylate. This is the surfactant and foaming agent. It can come from natural or synthetic sources. Unfortunately, it can also be irritating.

The remaining ingredients in the purchased detergent are all chemicals that can be irritating except maybe for the last one which is just table salt.

Is There A Good Option For DIY Natural Laundry Soap???

You want a homemade DIY natural laundry soap that works, right?

I’ve tried various homemade detergent recipes. Some worked better than others, and some have concern for building up in the drain pipes. A couple recipes I tried just didn’t clean well enough. We can get pretty dirty here on the homestead. I need something that works.

Then I finally tried a soap nut recipe. Yes, God created a tree with fruit just so we can keep clean.

When I first encountered soap nuts, they were the whole nut and the directions for using them included fishing the nut out of the washer before the rinse cycle. Who has time for THAT?

Then I found a way to make a simple liquid soap that is inexpensive and effective.

What’s more, soap nuts – which is just the hull of a berry- are good for skin and hair too. So now I’m washing my laundry with something that I can also use for shampoo or body wash.

What Exactly Are Soap Nuts Anyway?

Soap Nuts are the dried berry hull from a soapberry tree. Soapberry trees grow in tropical places and the berries have been used by people for washing and medicinal purposes for centuries. Here is a picture of a branch from the soapberry tree.

These berries are naturally soapy!

Yes. God created a soap tree for us.

The science here is that some plants contain saponins. Saponins are, well… soapy. You’ve been eating plants with very small amounts of saponins for your whole life. Plants like spinach, peanuts, legumes, chick peas and tea leaves all have small amounts of saponins. The weedy plant, lamb’s quarters, has more saponins than some other vegetables. And if you eat too much lamb’s quarters at one time, you might develop diarrhea.

So, the soapberry tree has loads of saponins. That’s a good thing if you have loads of laundry, and need a DIY natural laundry soap that works.

Soap nuts work by making a little bit of foamy lather and by decreasing the surface tension in the water between your clothing and the greasy dirty stuff you are trying to remove.

Soap nuts have a pH of 5.5. That makes them perfect for washing our bodies and our clothing.

I’ve looked at a lot of recipes on line. I passed by the ones using whole soap nuts I was supposed to bash up with a hammer and then remove the seeds. This might be a great method if I’m stuck in a tropical area and need to wash, but it doesn’t have to be that hard.

Apparently the seeds sprout easily and you can grow your own soapberry tree – but my house is not tall enough for a tree…

Where To Get Soap Nuts

Only use deseeded soap nuts. The seeds can stain fabric. I buy mine here. They come deseeded and broken up so I get the most soap for my money. I get about five batches of soap from each one pound bag. Each batch of soap is about two quarts. I use between 1/4 and 1/3 cup per load depending on size and amount of dirt.

At first I was unsure of washing my crisp white sheets with a tea-colored liquid. Nothing to fear though. They came out nice and bright and white.

I like to leave the soap unscented. I just want clean clothes. You can feel free to add a few drops of essential oil if you want to.

If the laundry is really stinky – think of forgotten towels or summer sweat-soaked garden clothes – I add a little borax powder to the washer.