Homemade Laundry Soap & The No-Poo Method

Oh hey. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been going a little hippie lately. What’s new?

Last year I took up couponing, which isn’t necessarily hippie. But it is frugal.
I also officially switched to reusable grocery bags in 2010 and we now recycle like it’s our religion.
Two years prior I made patchouli my primary scent.
I pick up lavender whenever I see any just for touching and smelling.
And I got my nose pierced while visiting Portland.
Oh, and I live in long skirts.
In other words, it’s geting pretty flower child up in here.

And now? Homemade laundry soap, shampoo and conditioner.

Previously I’ve always relied on coupons to score laundry detergent for cheap. But even though it was less expensive, it still wasn’t natural. So after talking to several friends about other alternatives, I decided to go the homemade route.

This recipe is incredibly simple; I adapted mine from SugarPie FarmHouse. It’s essentially equal parts baking soda, super washing soda, borax and bar soap (either Ivory, Kirk’s Castile, or Zotes).

I did one cup of each of the dry ingredients plus one bar grated Ivory soap and was pleased with the result. It’s recommended to use just 2 tablespoons per load, and all of my supplies should last at least 150 loads. Estimated cost is right around $.08 per load, which is about as cheap as it gets.

Here was my cost breakdown.

2 large boxes Baking soda: $3.38
1 large box Super wash soda: $3.35
1 large box Borax: $4.99
10-pack Ivory soap: $4.37
Total: $16.09

16 bucks for natural laundry soap isn’t a bad deal, especially since I expect it to last me well over a year, if not two. Previously, I was spending at least $4 every two months for detergent, which equals at least $24 a year. So I’m happy with this trade-off. Plus, I made it with my own hands! I feel so accomplished, and homestead.

For storage, I used an old protein powder container, but you can use whatever. I’d just recommend anything with a lid to keep it fresh and easily contained. The whole process took me about 5 minutes. Next time I may try and add a few sprigs of lavender just for pretty scent, but I couldn’t get my hands on any this time. Sha-nucks.

So, about that ‘No-Poo Method.”

When I first saw the words “no-poo method” on my friend Alina’s blog, I thought it meant literally no poo, as in no poop. ‘Um, no poop? Yes please! Tell me more about that.” Embarassing, I was way off. No shampoo, no conditioner was more the gist.

Anyways, I hate buying shampoo, it’s expensive, it never works and my hair always ends up looking like I’m a hobo anyways, so what was the point? Considering these factors, I decided to give it a try. What was to lose anyways?

Now that I’ve been poo-free for about a month, in hindsight, I wish I’d started sooner because it, is, awesome.

I got my recipe from Simple Mom and the idea is essentially to use baking soda and apple cider vinegar in place of shampoo and condish because it’s more natural for you hair, it doesn’t strip the essential oils, and it’s way cheaper.

One of my favorite benefits so far has been that it’s made my hair way more pliable, meaning I style my hair in the morning and it stays that way all day long. Plus, it has way more volume, which is virtually unheard of for my fine, limp hair. When I poof it up, it stays. Consider me WOWed.

The recommended recipe is 1 tablespoon baking soda + 1 cup water for shampoo, and 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar + 1 cup water for conditioner. I store mine in little squeezable bottles with caps for easy application, but a spray bottle would likely also work just fine.

I’m currently one month in with this method and still going strong, with no intention of ever going back to conventional shampoo and conditioner. John even said he’d be up for giving it try it when he runs out of his current brand. Looks like my hippie-ness is rubbing off on the Mr., too. Oh joy.

Next up for me? Trying the oil face cleansing method, just as soon as I run out of my current overpriced, chemical-ridden face wash. Full review to come soon. Be, stoked.

-Dana