making laundry soap...

I do a lot of laundry and I normally get the detergent for pretty cheap with coupons. However, lately I can't find any good deals. So I turned to my good friend Google to see how hard it would be to make my own. Turns out, not hard at all. It's really easy and really cheap. Maddie will demonstrate.

First you will need the following ingredients:
Borax, washing soda (not baking soda) and a bar of soap. I use Fels Naptha, others use Ivory. I found all these in the laundry aisle of my local store.


Fill a pot with 6 cups of water and start heating it up on the stove. You're going to grate 1/3 bar of Fels Naptha and add it to the water to dissolve.








Once that is dissolved you'll be adding the Borax and washing soda to the soap mixture. Stir well.




No pictures of this step. Sorry! Pour 4 cups of HOT water into a container you'll be using to store the soap. Then add your soap mixture to this.



Then add an additional 1 gallon + 6 cups warm water to this mixture and stir.


And you'll end up with this watery soupy looking detergent. Don't worry. Let it sit 24 hours or so and it will gel up. It still won't look good and will be slimy but works great.


See? It looked better after I stirred it up but not much.


You can add some essential oils if you like smelly detergent. I prefer the scent of the Fels Naptha.

Here is the recipe:
1/3 bar soap (Fels Naptha)
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup washing soda (not baking soda)
Container (at least 2 gallons) to store detergent in
6 cups water for soap mixture
4 cups HOT water added to container
1 gallon + 6 cups warm water to container

Start heating 6 cups of water in a pot on the stove. Meanwhile grate soap and add to water until soap melts. Add the washing soda and the Borax and stir well. Remove from stove and pour 4 cups hot water into your container. Add your soap mixture to this and stir. Then add your gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir well. Admire your soupy soapy creation and don't freak out it will "gel" in about 24 hours. Use about 1/2 cup per load.

I think this recipe cost me about $1.25 to make. I'm not sure how many loads I did but it was a lot.

Enjoy!