No we don’t eat this..come on now. But I make my own laundry soap and decided to post it on here for you to try. I know you’re thinking, “Yeah right, that is too much work”, or “That won’t get my clothes clean” or something to that effect. I thought the same things. It is the opposite of that! It is so simple and saves you TONS of money. To buy the ingredients is under $10 and lasts a long time. Plus your kitchen will smell so good!That’s probably what most people spend on one jug of Tide or whatever and only lasts a month or less. This lasts…well I made my first batch last summer and just made my third last week without buying more ingredients, other than the bar of soap. SO give it a whirl, what do you have to lose? If you don’t like it, the washing soda and borax can be used as laundry boosters, or cleaners around the house. Let me know what you think : ) (hey the Duggar’s do it so it’s gotta be cost effective)
Ingredients (You can find these in the Laundry aisle of most stores, just look close):
1 bar of soap (I use Fels-Naptha, it’s the best, but you can even use Dial or Zest or whatever)
1 c. Washing Soda
1 c. 20 Mule Team Borax
4 1/2 c. hot water
5 gallon bucket
Directions:
Grate the bar of soap. I bought a grater just for making soap. It looks tempting, but don’t eat the soap. My little guy wanted to taste it because it looks like cheese.
Put the soap into a saucepan and cover with water. Heat on low until it’s dissolved.
Fill the bucket with 4 1/2 gallons of hot tap water. I use a gallon sized pitcher to measure this out. Add the soap. Stir and add 1 c. washing soda and 1 c. borax. Mix well. As it cools, it will thicken. I let mine sit for 2 days.
After it sits, stir well and pour into whatever containers you want.
Make sure you label them because, again, my son wanted to taste it. This is how much one batch made for me. I just use old juice bottles or milk jugs. Just shake it up before you use it. I use 1 c. per load. See…simple! It doesn’t leave a scent behind so if you want a scent, use fabric softener.
Note: This recipe will NOT make suds in your washer so don’t be alarmed. Fels Naptha Soap is a pure soap and typically makes little or no suds in the water. This makes it perfect for use in the new HE washers as well as tradional washers. You will also notice the need to either reduce your laundry softener or in most cases you can even eliminate the use of softener completely.
Powdered soap version:
1 cup grated Fels Naptha Soap
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup 20 Mule Team borax
Mix and store in airtight container or bag. For light or small loads, use 1 tablespoon. For normal loads, use 2 tablespoons. For heavy loads, use 3 tablespoons.
To make a large batch – grate 6 bars of Fels Naptha Soap and then add 3 cups of Washing Soda and 3 cups of 20 Mule Team Borax. Mix well and store in covered container.
This sounds like such a great idea ~ I'm going to try it!
Wow! I am impressed! I think I may give this a try! How is it for you clothes? Do you see fading, or build up in your machine, anything like that?
Diane-I don't see any bad results. It doesn't leave a scent behind just fresh and clean, so I like to use a liquid fabric softener or sheet to give it a more noticeable scent. I love it. So frugal!
Thank you so much for this frugal way to make laundry soap. I am gonna try this out, hopefully next weekend if I can find the ingredients. 🙂
Oh just to let you know – in your directions for the laundry soap you call for 4 1/2 cups of water when it should be 4 1/2 gallons. 🙂