I make homemade laundry soap and I think it works like a charm!
Homemade Laundry Soap
1 bar Fels Naptha soap
1 cup washing soda
1 cup borax powder
~You will also need a 5 gallon size bucket~
Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 9 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 6 cups hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 2 gallons plus 1 cup of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ - 1 cup per load.
(You’ll want to stir the soap before each use)
Optional: If you want your soap to have some sort of scent you can scent this with 1½ to 2 oz. of essential oil or fragrance oil of your choice. (You should put the scented oil in after it is completely cooled.)
~The finished soap may or may not be a solid gel. If it is solid, stir it up really well. It will be more of a watery gel that has been accurately described as an "egg noodle soup" look.
~The soap is a low sudsing soap. So if you don’t see suds, that is ok. Suds are not what does the cleaning, it is the ingredients in the soap.
(Recipe taken from www.thefamilyhomestead.com and modified by me!)