The grid goes down more often than the power company wants you to know. In February 2021, nearly 4.5 million Texas households lost power in the middle of a winter storm, some for more than a week. Hurricane seasons routinely knock out electricity for days or weeks across the Gulf Coast and Atlantic seaboard. Aging […]
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LEGAL NOTICE: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws change frequently and vary by municipality as well as state. Always verify current laws in your specific jurisdiction before carrying any item, and consult a licensed attorney for guidance specific to your situation. Most people have no idea […]
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Estimated reading time: 29 minutes
It’s impossible to say when the first bricks were made, but the walls of ancient cities have been found and determined to be thousands of years old. The walls of Jericho were dated at 7,000 years old and made of brick. Bricks throughout history have been made from a variety of materials mostly determined by what was available in any given area and its ability to bind and dry into a strong, workable form.
The ancient Egyptians were known for their stonework when constructing the pyramids and the sphinx, but their bricks were used to construct mostly homes and smaller buildings, tombs, and temples. Many of those structures still stand to this day. Their standard recipe was a combination of clay and straw, but they introduced a new innovation as well: fired brick which resisted the elements over thousands of years.
Other cultures improvised bricks from other materials including things as simple as mud to other combinations as complex as Roman concrete made from volcanic ash. Early homesteaders crossing the Great Plains made their homes from soil bricks across treeless prairies.
There’s even a contemporary improvisation called papercrete made from newspapers and cement (here's how to make it). It’s the urban emergency building material when natural materials in a city are few and far between.
If you’re not inclined to make your brick from natural, found materials, you can simply buy a bag of pre-mixed concrete such as Sak-crete and follow the directions on the bag and pour it into the brick mold. We’ll cover a variation made with cement but also look at brick possibilities from nothing but natural materials.
Regardless of the type of brick, most follow a set process in steps:
In some instances, an additional step was added which involves firing the bricks either in a kiln or large oven or in a more primitive approach, building a large and very hot fire around the stacked bricks.
This was most commonly done with brick made from water and clay while some bricks made from other materials only required a drying process.
What Are You Building?
The type of brick you choose to make has a lot to do with its final use in construction. If the bricks are going to be supporting a heavy load or frequently exposed to water or even underwater, you’ll need to use a brick with at least a 50% clay content or a good percentage of cement. Soil and papercrete bricks are for more modest builds.
Where Are You Building?
If you’re making brick from found, natural materials, you have to consider your location. Some areas are rich in clay while others are covered in sand or—in the case of mountainous regions—hard rock. Urban areas may provide few options, but that’s where papercrete emerges as a solution using newspapers and cement.
Here are the types of brick we’ll explore:
Any brick making project requires some basic tools including some you may have to construct.
The standard size of a brick is 3-5/8″ x 2-1/4″ x 8″. If you want to make your bricks to the common standard, that’s the size of the form you should construct.
You could also use an existing brick you want to recreate and build your form around that brick to get the size right.
1×4’s are an easy material for making a brick form, and you can use them in any combination to create a variety of brick shapes and configurations.
The weight of your bricks may vary depending on the materials you use but the usual weight is 4.5 pounds per brick.
You can make forms for single bricks, double bricks or multiple bricks. If you want to make only one brick at a time, it’s easy to scale the size of the mold up or down depending on the size you want to make.
One of the benefits of making one brick at a time is that it gives you the ability to do some tests. If you’re not sure about the proportions for any type of brick, you can make one and do some stress and water tests to evaluate it and make adjustments before you go into mass production.
You can make a brick mold from anything, even a bread pan, as long as it can hold the mix or brick putty long enough for it to set up and be released from the form.
Speaking of Release…
Materials for bricks can harden and dry in a mold, making it almost impossible to get it to release from the form. There are a couple of ways to solve this. One way is to spray the form with a release agent that you can buy. In a pinch, you could spray the form with vegetable oil or even coat it in animal fat. You’ll need to rinse the bricks once they dry, but at least they won’t be stuck in the mold.
Another release agent is sand. If you’re working with a firm combination of materials, you can shape it into a rough ball and roll it around in sand before pressing it into the mold.
If you have no access to any kind of release agent you’ll just have to time it right and get the bricks out of the mold when they’re firm enough to hold their shape but still wet and flexible enough to release from the mold. You could also pound the boards off the form to release the brick and then reassemble it.
The materials you’ll need will vary by the recipe, but there are 3 basic types of materials that are sometimes combined to make brick.
1. The Binder
These are materials that bind and hold the brick shape after the brick has dried. Clay is the primary binder for traditional brick making but others include pulverized limestone or volcanic rock for a primitive cement, mud made from topsoil and water, or even store-bought cement added to other found materials for the final bricks.
2. Fillers
These are materials that are sometimes added to increase the amount of total material for brick making. They usually have poor binding characteristics so their proportions are critical. The more filler added to the brick, the weaker the brick when it comes to load-bearing and water resistance.
The primary filler often used in brick-making is sand or stones sometimes referred to as “aggregate.” The size of the rocks is proportional to the size of the brick although rocks the size of pebbles are typically used for a standard size brick.
3. Reinforcement
These are materials that improve the structural integrity of the finished brick. The traditional material used by the ancient Egyptians was straw. Other materials used include grasses, moss and even metal rods or nails acting as miniature rebar, and paper.
Like anything else, there are some things to avoid when making brick.
Using the wrong type of brick for the wrong project.
Adding too much filler or aggregate to the binder.
Adding too much reinforcement to the mix.
Releasing the bricks from the forms.
Drying the bricks improperly.
Firing bricks with insufficient heat.
Too much water.
Clay
Clay usually occurs a foot or more beneath topsoil. Dig down until you hit the clay layer and collect it in a wheelbarrow or bucket. An old landscaper’s trick is to sharpen the edge of your shovel with a file. This helps to cut and peel the clay away in slices.
Straw
You want long, dead and dry stems of grasses as reinforcement material for your clay bricks. Find some dry grass and toss it on top of your harvested clay in your wheelbarrow. You’ll want to end up with a 5 to 1 ratio of clay to straw or 5 buckets of clay to every bucket of tamped and compressed straw.
Many recipes call for the clay to be dried in the sun and then pulverized to a powder. This will allow you to most effectively combine the clay with the straw. If you don’t have the time or inclination to do this, you can mix the raw clay, water, and straw in a washtub or kid’s plastic swimming pool and walk on it with your feet to combine everything.
You might want to wear an old pair of gym shoes because you never know if something sharp will be in the mix.
There are two ways to make soil bricks. One involves compressing the soil with a heavy rock while the other is to simply fill the form with the soil. Either way works but compressing the soil gives you a sturdier brick.
Early American homesteaders made bricks from topsoil and also compressed them by packing and tamping them down into the mold. The bricks were sturdy when used for vertical construction but were often covered with a stucco or plaster inside and outside of a structure to protect the soil from rain and snow.
Regardless of the method, there’s a certain soil composition that’s ideal for brick making. Most soils are a combination of 3 things:
Each material has different characteristics and reacts differently with water. In the case of sand, there is no reaction due to the fact that quartz and feldspar are insoluble in water.
Before you start shoveling dirt into a mold, you should measure and evaluate the proportions of silt, clay, and sand in your soil. It’s easy to do.
Measure the proportions of each layer to determine the amount of each. The most important ingredient is the clay and if the clay layer in the middle settles at less than a total of 20% you should either find and add more clay or use different materials to make your bricks.
Some soil brick makers say the ideal proportion is 1:1:1 or 1/3 of each of the 3 materials. Others insist on 50% clay. The only way to know is to determine the proportion you have and see if you’re satisfied with the result. It’s a balancing act. Not enough clay and the bricks will break. Too much clay and the bricks could crack. It’s another good reason to make one brick at a time in single molds until you get the recipe right.
The easiest way to mix up your soil bricks is in a hole in the ground.
1. Fill the hole 2/3’s full of your brick-soil.
2. Toss some reinforcement materials on top like chopped straw or pine needles. Try to estimate a 10% proportion of reinforcement material.
3. Add water and begin to mix and turn with a shovel. Add more water as you go until you get a thick mud.
4. If you overwater and your mud is too soupy, let it rest in the hole. That’s one of the benefits of using a hole in the ground to mix. It will eventually drain away excess water.
5. Spray the forms with a release agent.
6. When you have a mud you can grab and handle, scoop it up and shovel it into the forms.
7. Push the tip of your trowel into the mixture and tap the side of the forms and smooth the top.
8. Use a board or trowel to finish the top.
It’s at this point that some methods call for compression of the mixture. We’re going to compress one of the bricks with a board cut to fit the top of the form and a large boulder.
9. Check the forms after a day to assess drying. Keep them covered with plastic or a wet blanket.
10. Let the soil bricks dry in the mold for 3 to 5 days. They take a little longer to set up than other types of bricks.
11. Once they have set up, release them from the mold onto a plastic-lined surface and let them dry for 2 to 3 weeks. You may have to pry the molds apart to get them to release. Keep them covered and out of the rain.
If you have a high clay content of 50%, you can fire the bricks to harden them and make them more impervious to water. A lower clay content could cause them to crack and crumble in the fire. Experiment.
Soil bricks are great for outbuildings and structures like small storage sheds, root cellar stairs, short walls, or any other structure that is light, simple and does not require brick with strong load bearing properties. They’re also not well suited for wet environments or underwater. They can last for years but not for centuries.
Papercrete is a combination of recycled paper and cement. There’s a process for putting them all together and they can help to stretch a limited supply of cement and create a brick that’s surprisingly light, easy to cut with a saw, and very strong.
They are not the best for any exposure to standing water or extremely wet environments. The paper will act as a wick and over periods of freezing and thawing, could cause the bricks to crack or crumble.
Papercrete is a simple process. First, you need to pulverize the paper with water to make a pulp. You then combine the pulp with cement in the proper proportions and put it into your molds.
Here’s the step by step directions:
Paper Pulp Directions
Basic Papercrete Formula
You’ll need another 5-gallon bucket for this step. If making a larger quantity, you could use a wheel barrow or concrete trough. You’ll use a trowel to mix the paper pulp and cement for smaller quantities. You could also use a shovel if mixing in a larger container.
Basic Papercrete Directions
If you’re concerned about moisture with papercrete, you can paint the bricks with water-sealing paint. Prime it first and it should help to protect the papercrete from any long-term moisture damage especially freezing and thawing.
We saved the easiest for last. You still need forms and you’ll have to do some mixing and go through a drying/curing process, but the materials are easy to buy and even the natural materials you’ll add to the cement like sand or stone can be easy to find.
Concrete bricks are incredibly strong, waterproof and can bear the heaviest loads. They also dry the fastest although you should let them cure properly before using.
The standard recipe for concrete is 1 part cement to 2 parts sand to 4 parts stone. If you want a stronger brick for any reason, increase the concrete and reduce the stone.
You could also add metal reinforcement to the bricks. This could be as easy as pressing long nails into the concrete in the forms or any other scrap metal. Don’t overdo it and make sure any metal you add is well immersed in the concrete. Any metal should have some measurable length. Adding nuts and washers to the bricks won’t add much in the way of structural integrity.
Mix the concrete to a putty and pour into the forms. You’ll really want to make sure you spray the forms with a release agent or at least a spray of vegetable oil.
Let the bricks dry for 24 hours in the forms and then release them onto a dry surface to cure for another 24 hours.
Concrete is the best material to use for odd shaped bricks that you want to customize. If you want an “L” shaped brick or a “T” shaped brick, just make the form to that configuration. Odd sized bricks are really helped with some metal reinforcing rods pressed into the concrete especially at any angled joints.
Mortar
You need mortar to build with bricks. The best solution is to buy a pre-mixed mortar and follow the directions on the bag. However, you can improvise your own.
The recipe is very simple.
There’s a whole lot more to brick laying than slapping mortar on bricks so do some homework before you build. In a perfect world –buy a bag of mortar especially if you want a long-lasting structure.
Remember to Experiment
If you’re making bricks for the first time, it pays to make one or a few at a time until you get the right mix of ingredients and the hang of how to go through the process. Once you feel confident in your mix and your method you can go into mass production and build your own Jericho. Or maybe just a nice brick foundation for a new chicken coop.
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When I started my blog fourteen years ago, I wrote a post about making homemade DIY laundry detergent. Some people may call it laundry soap; you get the idea either way. Remember, you’ll always use less because there is no filler. DO NOT use a big scoop like the detergents with fillers.
I had a friend teach me how to make it years ago, and that’s how I wrote that original post. I updated this post to show my readers how to make it. Let me know if you make your own detergent and what ingredients you use. In case you missed this post, How To Make Emergency Washing Machines
I highly recommend a Lavario Portable Washing Machine (currently out of stock)
Here is another option for washing clothes after a disaster: Portable Washing Machine
What I love about this homemade laundry detergent recipe is that you can make as little or as much as you want whenever you want. Yes, I stockpile the ingredients. Be sure to check your clothing to ensure it is, in fact, washable and not dry-cleanable only.
It’s easy to make laundry detergent, it is. I prefer the dry over the liquid because I’m one of those chicks who likes to be prepared for the unexpected, and we all need to do laundry.
Yep, I will probably never run out of the stuff. I have several years stored in a closet in five-gallon buckets. I couldn’t do that with liquid detergent.
I use only 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of laundry detergent in my front-loading high-efficiency (HE) washing machine. This is my second or third HE washer. I don’t think I could go back to a top-loader unit.
I started using one tablespoon, but I got the same results with half of that, so now it costs me even less. I have to love the savings, and it does a great job cleaning my clothes!
You can make this stuff with a cheese grater and a blender. Some people say it makes their cheese grater or blender smell like soap. When I’m done, I soak them in a bit of bleach or white vinegar, then rinse them with really hot water, and that works out great for me since I don’t taste or smell detergent on the tools.
Then I wash the items to remove any bleach residue. This year, I used my Nutri Blender to blend the ingredients instead of my Bosch blender. I used a Vegetable Grater to shred the bars of soap. You can also use a cheese grater; just be careful while grating to avoid injuring your fingers.
You must let your blender of choice cool down between batches because it may overheat. I waited about an hour and returned and made a few more batches to fill the gallon container. You could also use mason jars, but I chose this glass jar. One Gallon Jar
Here’s the deal: you don’t have to invest a lot of money in equipment to make your own laundry detergent. I make it in large quantities to share with my daughters. You can use a salad shooter or just a plain grater to grate the bars of soap.
Any blender will work as long as you ensure it doesn’t overheat. I love the scent of Fels-Naptha bars, but I have also seen people using Castile soap bars. I think it’s just a personal preference. I stick with the Fels since I’ve had such a good experience with the job it does; my clothes come out clean and smell so fresh without having to add essential oils or harsh chemicals.
On Facebook, I’ve noticed families getting together on a weeknight to make their DIY laundry detergent together. What a great idea! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! Saving money is a massive thing for all of us! My friend, Deborah, uses Wool Dryer Balls.
In case you missed this post, 15 Ways to Clean Your Home with Borax
The first thing I like to do is gather all the ingredients; this recipe only has three. I love it! I understand you can use different bars of soap, like Castile soap, but I’ve only used Fels-Naptha bars because I’ve learned over the years that they work. I used one 65-ounce box of Borax, one 55-ounce box of Washing Soda, and 5-6 bars of Fels-Naptha to fill the one-gallon jar.
Because I’m using my electric salad vegetable grater, I cut the bar of soap in half lengthwise so it fits inside the top of the grater. Here, you can see one cup of Borax and one cup of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda.
It’s easy to use my Presto Salad/Vegetable shredder. Mark and I have grated many bars of soap by hand, so I don’t think you need fancy equipment to make it.
Because the soap powder is thick, I “grind” a half batch at a time to keep my unit from overheating. So, you can see below 1/2 bar of soap, 1/2 cup of Borax, and 1/2 cup of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda. Then, after mixing that batch, I started mixing the other half of the recipe. Yes, it takes two steps, but both I and my equipment stay sharp.
This picture shows how much ONE batch of my own homemade laundry soap recipe filled the one-gallon jar. You can fill mason quart jars, or even pint jars if you want, depending on your storage space and how easy it is for you to lift them. Because you use so little detergent per load of laundry, it lasts much longer than store-bought detergent.
Borax Laundry Booster is generally considered safe for washing clothes when used as directed. It’s a naturally occurring mineral compound (sodium tetraborate) that has been used as a laundry aid for over 100 years. When added to your wash cycle, borax softens hard water, boosts detergent effectiveness, and helps neutralize odors and remove stains. It dissolves completely in water, meaning it rinses out of fabrics thoroughly and doesn’t leave a harmful residue on your clothing.
Borax is safe for most washable fabrics, including cotton, synthetics, and blends, and is gentle enough that it won’t cause damage or significant fading when used in recommended amounts, typically about half a cup per load. It is also free of phosphates and chlorine bleach, making it a milder alternative to harsher laundry additives. As with any cleaning product, it’s advisable to keep it out of reach of children and avoid direct skin contact in its dry powder form, but once diluted in a full load of wash water, it poses no meaningful risk to your garments or to most people’s skin.
Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda is generally considered safe for washing clothes when used as directed. It’s a natural mineral compound (sodium carbonate) that has been a trusted laundry booster for generations, made from the same basic elements found in baking soda but with a stronger alkaline formula. When added to your wash cycle, Super Washing Soda softens hard water, cuts through grease and grime, and boosts the cleaning power of your regular laundry detergent, allowing it to work more effectively.
It dissolves well in water and rinses cleanly from fabrics, leaving no harmful residue on your clothing. Super Washing Soda is safe for most standard washable fabrics, including cotton, linen, and synthetic blends, and is particularly effective at tackling tough stains and odors. It contains no phosphates, bleach, or added fragrances, making it a straightforward and relatively mild laundry additive compared to harsher chemical boosters. One thing to keep in mind is that, due to its higher alkalinity, it is best to avoid using it on delicate fabrics such as wool, silk, or anything labeled “dry clean only,” as it may damage those fibers. When used on appropriate fabrics, Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda is a safe, effective, and affordable way to enhance your laundry routine.
Fels-Naptha is generally considered safe for washing clothes when used as directed and has been a trusted laundry soap bar in American households for decades. It’s a heavy-duty bar soap formulated for laundry, designed to serve as both a stain pre-treatment and a direct wash agent. When used as a pre-treater, you simply wet the bar and rub it directly onto stained areas of fabric before laundering, allowing its powerful cleaning agents to break down grease, oil, grass stains, ring-around-the-collar, and other tough spots. Fels-Naptha rinses out cleanly during the wash cycle, leaving no harmful soap residue on your garments. It’s safe for most common washable fabrics, including cotton, polyester, and blended materials, and is particularly well-regarded for its ability to remove stubborn stains that regular detergent alone might struggle to remove.
It’s also a popular ingredient in homemade laundry detergent recipes, where it’s grated and combined with washing soda and borax for a cost-effective DIY cleaning solution. It’s worth noting that Fels-Naptha is not recommended for delicate fabrics such as wool or silk, and individuals with very sensitive skin may want to wear gloves when handling the bar directly, as its strong cleaning formula can be drying. However, when used on appropriate fabrics and rinsed thoroughly in the wash, Fels-Naptha is a safe, reliable, and highly effective laundry treatment that has stood the test of time.
This is a little tricky, and I used one box of Borax, one box of Super Washing Soda, and 5 bars of Fels-Naptha soap. I had a little bit of the product left in each box. I’ll save it for the next batch. It will never be an even number of boxes and soap bars to fill a one-gallon jar.
I highly recommend storing the detergent, Borax, and Super Washing Soda in airtight glass containers.
This is an excellent question because humidity causes havoc with borax. Over time, it’ll become clumpy or even like a total brick. I highly recommend storing your borax in an airtight container filled with detergent or using mason jars.
Please let me know if you’ve tried making my DIY Laundry Detergent; I would love to hear from you. We know how much everything has gone up in price, right? If you’re like me, you’re willing to try new things that save money while delivering the same or better quality results.
Well, the ingredients I used today have gone up as well. This recipe uses so little detergent/soap per laundry batch that I still save money. May God bless this world, Linda
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