Laundry Soap Recipe

I have had a few requests for this recipe, so here it is.

Home made laundry soap

Here is what you need:

• 1 bar of soap - Whatever kind you like; I used Sunlight bar soap and it is found in the laundry aisle.
• 1 box of washing soda - Look for it in the laundry detergent aisle at your local department store - it comes in an Arm & Hammer box and will contain enough for six batches of this stuff.
• 1 box of Borax - This is not necessary, but I've found it really kicks the cleaning up a notch - one box of borax will contain more than enough for tons of batches of this homemade detergent.

• A five gallon bucket with a lid or a bucket that will hold more than 15 liters - ask around - these aren't too tough to acquire.
• Three gallons of hot tap water.
• A big spoon to stir the mixture with.
• A measuring cup.
• A knife.

Put about four cups of water into a pan on your stove and turn the heat up on high until it's almost boiling. While you're waiting, whip out a knife and start shaving strips off of the bar of soap into the water, or grate it with a grater. Keep the heat below a boil and keep shaving the soap. Eventually, you'll shave up the whole bar, then stir the hot water until the soap is dissolved and you have some highly soapy water.

Put three gallons of hot tap water into the five gallon bucket - the easiest way is to fill up three 1-gallon milk jugs. Then mix in the hot soapy water from step one, stir it for a while, then add a cup of the washing soda. Keep stirring it for another minute or two, then add a half cup of borax if you are using borax. Stir for another couple of minutes, then let the stuff sit overnight to cool.  You could also add some essential oils at this time if you want to have a nice scent - like lemon, orange, peppermint, or your favorite

You're done! It will go kind of slimy, or gel a bit, that is normal and good.  You just scoop out about 1 cup of the gel and use it in your wash.   I figured that you will get about 48 loads out of three gallons, and if you do up six batches of this, you will do about 288 loads of laundry and you will save about $60+ dollars from buying other laundry soap.  It just makes sense $$$. 

Have fun!