Homemade Liquid Soap Nuts Laundry Detergent

Soap nuts are an affordable and entirely non-toxic way to do laundry.  

Despite the name, a soap nut isn’t even a nut… it’s a berry.   That makes this laundry soap completely safe for those with nut allergies.

Soap nuts are an affordable and entirely non-toxic way to do laundry. Since there are no actual nuts in this laundry soap, it's completely safe for those with nut allergies.

Homemade Liquid Soap Nuts Laundry Detergent

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup soap nuts (approx. 2 oz)
  • 4 cups Water
  • 1/2 cup Vinegar (this acts as a natural preservative)

Supplies:

Instructions:

  1. Measure and pour all ingredients into a large pot. Bring to a low boil and then reduce to a med-low heat to simmer with the *lid on* for 30 minutes.
  2. Stir and mash the berries occasionally with a slotted spoon.
  3. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and continue to simmer at a low heat for 30 more minutes to remove excess water.
  4. Continue to stir occasionally.
  5. Remove the pot from the heat, strain into a clean glass bowl with a mesh strainer and let cool.
  6. Pour detergent into a water tight jar for storage.

This should yield approximately 2 1/2 cups of liquid detergent, which will 40 loads in an HE machine or 20 loads in a standard washing machine. Yield may vary depend on the heat settings used while cooking.

To Use:

Use 1 tablespoon per HE load, or 2 tablespoons per regular load. More may be used on heavily soiled loads. As with any detergent, pretreat tough spots.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

2 Comments

  1. Elizabeth says:

    How long is this suppose to last on the shelf? I’ve made liquid soap before but was told it only keeps a few days out or up to 2 weeks in the fridge. Does the vinegar help that much that it doesn’t go bad?

    1. I made this over a month ago and it’s still good. I made a double batch and filled 2 reused pasta sause containers. Works very well.