- 2 days ago
Pick up that jug of laundry detergent by your machine and look at what you paid — twenty, twenty-five dollars. Here is what the company would rather you not think about: most of what you carried home is water, dyed blue, with a little soap and a strong perfume mixed in. You paid to ship water across the country in a plastic jug, and you will pay again next month when it runs out.
We have never bought that blue water in the history of this house. My wife makes our wash soap from three simple things off the low shelf at any grocery store, for about six dollars, and one batch lasts our family the better part of a year.
In this video I give you the exact recipe — washing soda, borax, and a bar of plain soap — show you how to make a whole bucket of gel in about twenty minutes, and tell you honestly what it does well and what it does not. I will not pretend it beats every detergent at everything. I also show you the one trick with white vinegar that makes it work right in hard water, which is the thing most folks are never told and the reason some people try this and give up.
A word of honesty: this is gentle and wonderful for everyday dirt and for sensitive skin, but you spot-treat the
We have never bought that blue water in the history of this house. My wife makes our wash soap from three simple things off the low shelf at any grocery store, for about six dollars, and one batch lasts our family the better part of a year.
In this video I give you the exact recipe — washing soda, borax, and a bar of plain soap — show you how to make a whole bucket of gel in about twenty minutes, and tell you honestly what it does well and what it does not. I will not pretend it beats every detergent at everything. I also show you the one trick with white vinegar that makes it work right in hard water, which is the thing most folks are never told and the reason some people try this and give up.
A word of honesty: this is gentle and wonderful for everyday dirt and for sensitive skin, but you spot-treat the
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Pick up that jug of laundry detergent next to your washing machine.
00:04Look at what you paid for it.
00:06Twenty, twenty-five dollars for the big one?
00:08Now I am going to tell you something about what is inside it
00:12that the company would rather you not think about.
00:15Most of what you just carried home,
00:18most of the weight in that heavy plastic jug,
00:21is water.
00:22Plain water, dyed blue,
00:25with a little soap and a strong perfume mixed in.
00:29You paid to have water shipped across the country in a plastic bottle,
00:33and then you paid again for the bottle,
00:36and you will pay again next month when it runs out.
00:40My name is Elias Yoda.
00:43I am Amish.
00:44I farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
00:46and we have never bought a jug of that blue water in the history of this house.
00:52My wife makes our wash soap from three simple things
00:56you can buy at any grocery store for about six dollars,
01:00and one batch lasts our family the better part of a year.
01:04It washes the clothes of nine people,
01:07work clothes, barn clothes, bed sheets,
01:11the children's everything,
01:12and it costs pennies a load.
01:15Today I am going to give you the exact recipe,
01:18show you how to make it in about 20 minutes,
01:21and tell you honestly what it does well and what it does not,
01:26because there are folks on the internet
01:28who will tell you this homemade soap
01:30beats every detergent on the shelf at everything,
01:33and that is not true,
01:36and I will not tell you a thing that is not true.
01:40I am also going to tell you the one trick
01:43that makes it work right in hard water,
01:45which is the thing most folks miss,
01:48and it is why some people try this and give up.
01:52Stay for that part especially.
01:54Stay with me.
01:56Let me start with what is really in that jug,
02:00because once you see it,
02:01you cannot unsee it.
02:03A bottle of liquid laundry detergent
02:06is mostly water.
02:07I am not exaggerating to make a point.
02:10The actual soap,
02:12the part that does the cleaning
02:13is a small fraction of what is in there.
02:17The rest is water to carry it,
02:19dye to make it look rich and blue or green,
02:22and fragrance,
02:24a strong manufactured smell.
02:27And here is the clever part,
02:29the part that took me a while to understand.
02:32That smell is doing a job,
02:34and the job is not cleaning.
02:37The job is to make your nose
02:39believe the clothes are clean.
02:41Think about it honestly.
02:43When you pull your wash out,
02:45and it smells like that mountain breeze,
02:47or whatever they have named it,
02:49your mind says clean.
02:51But you did not measure anything.
02:54You did not test anything.
02:56You smelled a perfume,
02:58and your mind has been taught,
03:00over years and years of every wash
03:03smelling like that,
03:04to hear that smell,
03:06and think clean.
03:07The smell is not proof of clean.
03:10The smell is a habit they trained into you.
03:14And it is the most expensive part of the bottle.
03:18Manufactured fragrance is not cheap,
03:20and you are paying for it every single wash,
03:23paying to perfume water.
03:26Now, getting clothes actually clean
03:29is not complicated,
03:30and it does not need any of that.
03:33It needs three things.
03:35Something to break the grip of grease and oil
03:38so it can lift off the cloth.
03:40That is the soap itself.
03:43Something to handle the minerals in your water
03:45so the soap can do its work.
03:48That is a water softener.
03:50And something alkaline
03:52to help lift the dirt and oils
03:54out of the fibers.
03:55And a couple of common minerals do that.
03:58Three things.
03:59Every one of them sits on a low shelf at the store,
04:03cheap,
04:04with no advertising,
04:05and they have been cleaning clothes
04:07since long before there was a plastic jug
04:10to put anything in.
04:13Here are the three things you need.
04:15Write them down.
04:16The first is washing soda.
04:19Now hear me.
04:20Washing soda.
04:21Not baking soda.
04:23They are cousins,
04:25but they are not the same thing.
04:27Washing soda is sodium carbonate,
04:29and the common box of it,
04:31the yellow one,
04:32is on the laundry aisle
04:34for about four or five dollars,
04:36and that one box lasts a long time.
04:40This is the workhorse.
04:42When it hits the water,
04:43it makes the water alkaline,
04:45and that is what loosens the grease
04:48and the oils and the dirt
04:49and lets them lift up out of the cloth.
04:52This is the main cleaner.
04:55Washing soda.
04:56The second is borax.
04:58It is another mineral.
05:00They mine it out of dry lake beds,
05:02and it comes in a box on the same aisle
05:05for about four or five dollars.
05:08Borax is your water softener.
05:11Now, most of America has what they call
05:13hard water.
05:15Water with a lot of minerals dissolved in it.
05:18And hard water fights your soap.
05:21The minerals in the water
05:23grab onto the soap and onto the dirt
05:25and make a kind of scum.
05:27And instead of washing the dirt away,
05:30you are half rubbing it back into the cloth.
05:33Borax handles those minerals
05:35so the soap can actually do its job.
05:39Without it, in hard water,
05:41you are washing in what amounts to thin mud.
05:44The third is a bar of plain soap
05:47grated up.
05:48Real soap, a plain bar.
05:51The simpler, the better.
05:53Folks use a plain Castile bar
05:55or a plain old-fashioned laundry bar
05:58or other simple bars made for this.
06:01A bar runs you a couple of dollars.
06:04You grate it up on a kitchen grater
06:06like you would a block of cheese.
06:08This is your actual soap.
06:11The part that grabs the grease
06:13and lets the water carry it away.
06:16One bar replaces a whole jug's worth
06:19of the soap in store detergent.
06:22That is the whole list.
06:24Washing soda, borax,
06:26a bar of plain soap.
06:28Buy all three
06:29and you have spent maybe $12, $13.
06:33And you will have most of each box
06:35left over for the next batch.
06:37So the cost of one actual batch
06:39works out to around $6.
06:42And one batch
06:44is a great deal of laundry.
06:46Now, I have to stop
06:48and be plain about safety
06:49because I always am
06:51and because it matters with these.
06:54Washing soda and borax
06:56are both strong.
06:57They are alkaline
06:59and they will dry out
07:00and irritate your skin
07:02if you handle them
07:03bare-handed for long.
07:04And they will sting badly
07:06if you rub your eye
07:08with them on your fingers.
07:10So wear gloves when you mix
07:12and keep them off your face.
07:14And here is the important one
07:16for those of you
07:18with little ones
07:18and animals about.
07:21Borax is not to be eaten.
07:23It is a fine laundry mineral
07:25but it is harmful to swallow,
07:28especially for a child or a pet.
07:30So you keep both boxes up high,
07:33closed, and out of reach,
07:35the same as you would
07:37any cleaning supply.
07:39Used right, gloves on,
07:41kept up away from the children,
07:43rinsed out of the wash,
07:45it is safe
07:46and it has been used in homes
07:48for well over a hundred years.
07:50But you treat it with respect.
07:53Honest is better than careless.
07:56Here is how my wife makes it
07:58and it is about 20 minutes
08:00of real work
08:01and then you walk away.
08:03Take your bar of soap
08:05and grate it up fine
08:06on a kitchen grater,
08:08about a cup of grated soap.
08:10Put that in a saucepan
08:12with a few cups of hot water
08:14on low heat
08:15and stir it slow
08:16until every flake melts
08:19and it goes smooth
08:20like a thin milk.
08:22Do not let it boil up.
08:24You do not want a foaming mess,
08:27just melted soap.
08:29That takes maybe 10 minutes
08:31of slow stirring.
08:33While that is melting,
08:34take a five-gallon bucket
08:36and fill it about halfway
08:38with the hottest tap water
08:40you can draw.
08:41When your soap is all melted,
08:43pour it into the bucket.
08:45Then add one cup of the washing soda
08:48and one cup of the borax.
08:51Stir it slow
08:52with a long wooden spoon
08:54for a couple of minutes.
08:55You will feel it start
08:57to thicken a little
08:58as it all comes together.
09:00Then top the bucket off
09:01the rest of the way
09:02with water.
09:03Cold from the tap
09:05is fine
09:05and give it a good stir.
09:08Put the lid on
09:09and leave it overnight.
09:11That is the part
09:12you cannot rush.
09:14By the next morning,
09:16the whole bucket
09:17will have set up
09:18into a soft, thick gel,
09:20kind of like
09:21a loose pudding.
09:22That gel
09:23is your laundry soap,
09:25the whole bucket of it,
09:26made for a few dollars.
09:29To use it,
09:30you stir it up.
09:31It will separate a bit
09:32as it sits.
09:33That is normal.
09:35Just give it a stir.
09:36And you use somewhere
09:37around a quarter cup
09:39to half a cup
09:40per load,
09:41scooped right into the machine.
09:43Less if your machine
09:45is one of the new
09:46high-efficiency front loaders,
09:47which I will speak to
09:49in a minute.
09:50One bucket like this
09:52will do you
09:52a great many loads.
09:54For a family doing wash
09:56all the time,
09:57you make a bucket
09:58every couple of months.
10:00For a smaller household,
10:02a bucket goes a long,
10:04long way.
10:05Now, here is the part
10:05that separates the folks
10:07who love this
10:08from the folks
10:09who try it once
10:10and quit.
10:11It is hard water,
10:13and it is the trick
10:14most people
10:15are never told.
10:17Remember I said
10:18most of America
10:19has hard water
10:20full of minerals,
10:22and that the minerals
10:23fight the soap
10:24and leave a scum?
10:25The borax helps
10:26a great deal
10:27with that.
10:28But in really hard water,
10:30even with the borax,
10:32a soap-based wash
10:33can, over time,
10:35leave a little dullness
10:36or stiffness
10:37in your clothes
10:38and towels.
10:39A faint buildup
10:40of soap
10:41and mineral
10:42together.
10:43This is the number one
10:44reason somebody
10:45tries homemade soap,
10:47decides it
10:48doesn't work,
10:49and goes back
10:50to the jug.
10:51Here is the fix,
10:53and it costs
10:54almost nothing.
10:56White vinegar.
10:57Plain white vinegar,
10:59the cheap gallon.
11:01You put about
11:02a half cup of it
11:03in the rinse,
11:04in the fabric softener
11:05slot of your machine,
11:07or just pour it in
11:08for the rinse cycle.
11:09The vinegar is acid,
11:11mild,
11:12and it cuts
11:13right through
11:14that mineral
11:15and soap scum
11:16and rinses it
11:17clean away.
11:18It leaves your clothes
11:20soft.
11:21It is the only
11:22fabric softener
11:23we have ever used.
11:24And no,
11:25your clothes
11:26do not come out
11:27smelling like vinegar.
11:28The smell rinses out
11:30completely as it dries.
11:32A half cup of vinegar
11:34in the rinse
11:35is the difference
11:36between
11:36this homemade soap
11:38is wonderful
11:39and
11:39this homemade soap
11:41doesn't work.
11:43Same soap.
11:44The vinegar
11:45is the secret.
11:47So that is
11:48the full system.
11:49The soap gel
11:50in the wash.
11:51A splash of
11:53white vinegar
11:53in the rinse.
11:55Cheap,
11:56simple,
11:56and it does the job.
11:58Now let me be honest
12:00with you about
12:01what this soap
12:01does well
12:02and what it does not
12:04because I will not
12:05oversell it.
12:07What it does well.
12:09Everyday dirt.
12:11Sweat,
12:12body oils,
12:13ordinary grime,
12:15dust,
12:15the regular soil
12:16of regular living
12:18and regular work.
12:19For the everyday wash
12:21and that is
12:22the great bulk
12:23of what any family
12:24washes,
12:25it gets clothes
12:26clean and fresh
12:27for pennies a load.
12:29It is gentle
12:30and because there is
12:31no manufactured dye
12:33and no manufactured
12:34fragrance in it,
12:36it is far kinder
12:37to sensitive skin.
12:39If you have a little one
12:40who breaks out
12:41in a rash
12:42or somebody
12:43in the house
12:43whose skin
12:44or whose head
12:45cannot abide
12:46the perfume
12:47in store detergent,
12:49this plain soap
12:50with nothing added
12:51is often
12:52a great relief.
12:54That is a real benefit
12:56and it is honest.
12:58What it does not
12:59do as well.
13:01Tough,
13:02set-in stains
13:03and heavy grease.
13:05The store detergents
13:07have special ingredients,
13:08enzymes they call them,
13:10that are built
13:11in a laboratory
13:12specifically to break down
13:14stubborn stains
13:15like blood,
13:16grass,
13:17deep grease,
13:18baby messes.
13:20This homemade soap
13:22does not have those
13:23and I am not going
13:24to pretend it does.
13:26So for a bad stain,
13:28you treat that stain
13:30directly before
13:31it goes in the wash,
13:32a dab of the soap
13:34rubbed right on it
13:35or a proper stain treatment
13:37or a soak
13:38and then you wash
13:40as usual.
13:41For the everyday load,
13:44the soap alone
13:45is plenty.
13:46For the hard stains,
13:48you spot treat first.
13:50That is just being
13:51honest about the tool.
13:53And one more honest word
13:55about the new machines.
13:58Many of you have
13:59the high efficiency
14:00front loading machines now,
14:02the ones that use
14:03very little water.
14:04This soap is naturally
14:07low sudsing.
14:08It does not foam up
14:09like the store stuff
14:10and that is actually good
14:12because those machines
14:14do not like a lot of suds.
14:16But two cautions.
14:19Use less,
14:20only a tablespoon or two
14:22for those machines
14:23since they use
14:24so little water.
14:25And check your machine's book
14:27because a few manufacturers
14:29say to use only
14:31their approved detergents
14:33and frown on plain soap.
14:36If you use it
14:37in one of those,
14:38run an occasional
14:39empty hot wash
14:41with a cup of vinegar
14:42to keep any soap
14:44from building up
14:45inside the machine.
14:47Treated that way,
14:48it works fine
14:49in most of them.
14:50But I would rather
14:52tell you to check
14:53than have you void
14:54your warranty
14:54on my say-so.
14:57Now I want to take a moment
14:58because this is the part
15:00that matters.
15:01Think about who profits
15:03from that jug
15:04of blue water.
15:06The detergent companies
15:07profit, of course,
15:09but look closer
15:10at how.
15:11They sell you a jug
15:13that is mostly water
15:14and a little soap
15:15at a price
15:16that has almost nothing
15:18to do with what is in it.
15:20The dye costs them
15:21almost nothing.
15:22The fragrance
15:23is the priciest part
15:24and it does
15:25no cleaning at all.
15:27It exists only
15:28to train your nose.
15:30And the genius of it
15:32from their side
15:33of the counter
15:33is that it runs out.
15:35Every few weeks
15:36you are back
15:37at the store
15:38lifting another
15:39heavy jug
15:40into the cart
15:40paying again
15:41to ship water
15:42across the country.
15:44A thing you must
15:45re-buy forever
15:46is a far better business
15:48than a thing
15:49you make yourself
15:50for six dollars a year.
15:52And the smell
15:53is the hook
15:54that keeps
15:54the whole thing
15:55turning.
15:56They spent years
15:57teaching a whole country
15:59that clean
16:00has a particular
16:01manufactured smell
16:02so that plain clean,
16:05clothes that simply
16:06have no dirt
16:07and no odor
16:08and no perfume
16:09either,
16:10started to feel
16:11to people like
16:12not clean enough.
16:14Your own nose
16:15was turned
16:15into a salesman
16:16working for them.
16:18That is not chemistry.
16:19That is a habit
16:21sold to you
16:22and re-bought by you
16:23every single month
16:25of your life.
16:26There is no company
16:27that profits
16:28from a box
16:29of washing soda,
16:30a box of borax,
16:32a bar of plain soap
16:33and a bucket.
16:34Nobody can build
16:35an advertising budget
16:37around it.
16:38Nobody can sell you
16:39a fresh one
16:40every month
16:40because you make it
16:42yourself
16:42and the boxes
16:43last and last.
16:45So you were
16:45never told.
16:47Not because it
16:47does not work.
16:48It has worked
16:49in homes
16:50for over a century
16:51but because there
16:52is no money
16:53in teaching a man
16:54to do for $6
16:56what they would
16:57rather sell him
16:58for $300 a year.
17:00We make our own
17:01because we always have
17:02and because a family
17:04that can wash
17:05its own clothes
17:06for pennies
17:06with three plain things
17:08off a low shelf
17:09is a family
17:10that needs no jug
17:12from anyone.
17:13That is the whole of it.
17:14Clean is not a smell
17:16you buy.
17:17Clean is just dirt
17:18gone.
17:19So here is what
17:20I want you to do
17:21this week.
17:22Next time you are
17:23at the store
17:24walk past the laundry
17:25jugs and go down
17:27to the low shelf.
17:28Get a box of
17:29washing soda
17:30not baking soda
17:31washing soda.
17:32Get a box of borax
17:34get a plain bar of soap
17:36and get a gallon
17:37of plain white vinegar
17:39under $15 for all of it
17:41and most of it
17:42left over for next time.
17:44Grate your bar of soap
17:45melt it in a few cups
17:47of hot water
17:48stir it into a half bucket
17:50of hot water
17:50with a cup of washing soda
17:52and a cup of borax
17:54top it off
17:55and leave it overnight.
17:56In the morning
17:57you will have a bucket
17:58of gel
17:59that washes
18:00your family's clothes
18:01for months.
18:02Use a scoop
18:03per load
18:04a splash of vinegar
18:05in the rinse
18:06and spot treat
18:07the bad stains
18:08before they go in.
18:09Wear your gloves
18:11when you mix
18:11and keep the boxes
18:13up away from
18:14the little ones.
18:14Tell me in the comments below
18:16do you have hard water
18:18where you are
18:18and have you ever tried
18:20making your own
18:21wash soap?
18:22And if you have
18:22a grandmother's recipe
18:24an old way
18:25your family did it
18:26I want to hear it.
18:27I read every single
18:29one of these
18:29and the old recipes
18:31you all share
18:32are the reason
18:32I keep doing this.
18:34Next time
18:34I am going to show you
18:36how my wife
18:36makes the bar soap itself
18:38the actual soap
18:40from scratch
18:40the old way
18:42with just a few things
18:43and a little patience
18:44so that even that
18:46two dollar bar
18:47is something you can make
18:48with your own hands
18:49instead of buying.
18:50It is the natural
18:51next step
18:52after today.
18:53Until then
18:54walk past the blue water
18:56make your own
18:57and remember
18:58the people who built
19:00this country
19:00with their hands
19:01knew things
19:02we are only just
19:03starting to remember.
Comments