homemade laundry soap

The more we learn and read about the food we're eating, personal products we're using, and cleaning supplies we're using, the more we're both becoming more concerned about what we use. We're learning not only about the impact on us as far as our health, and the impact on the environment, but also the effect on our wallet! Buying organic *can* be do-able, if I really watch prices and pay attention to when things are on sale and where they are on sale. We're not spending too much more by eating organic than by eating "other" foods. But, that's another blog post :)

In our slow process of switching to more economic, natural and eco-friendly cleaning supplies, I've read a lot about making laundry soap. I've hemmed and hawed about it long enough, and decided to take the plunge!!

Homemade Laundry Detergent (liquid-gel)

1/3 bar Fels Naptha

1/2 c. Washing Soda

1/2 c. Borax

a large bucket (2 gallon or more) with a lid

1. Grate the Fels-Naptha

2. Put the grated soap and 6 cups of water into a saucepan, and heat until the soap is melted. (It took me about 10 minutes on high--just be careful not to boil over!)

3. While the soap is melting, heat 4 cups of water until hot in a separate pan or in the microwave.

3. Once the soap in the pan is melted, add the Washing Soda and Borax, and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat.

4. Pour the 4 cups of hot water into your large bucket. Add your soap mixture from the pan, and stir.

5. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water, and stir.

6. Put the lid on the bucket, and let the soap sit for 24 hours. It should turn into a watery gel.

7. Use 1/2 c. per load, more if a large load.

**This is a low-sudsing soap--that doesn't mean it's not cleaning! The products clean, they just don't suds a lot.**

**If you want your soap to have a scent, you can add 1/4 t. of an essential oil.**

The whole process took me about 30 minutes. Not bad! It's going to save us a TON of money on laundry soap. How much, you ask? Well, let me tell you!

Washing Soda: 2.99 for a 55 oz. box (approx. $.05 per ounce)

Borax: 3.99 for a 76 oz. box (approx. $.05 per ounce)

Fels Naptha: 1.30 for 5.5 oz. bar ($.24 per ounce, $.43 per 1/3 bar)

Bucket with Lid: about 7.00

Total: 15.30, rounded up.

For one batch:

4 oz. of Washing Soda is $.20

4 oz. of Borax is $.20

1/3 bar Fels Naptha is $.43

(The bucket is a one-time expense, and is re-usable, so I'm not going to calculate it in the batch of soap.)

That equals $.83 for 2 gallons of laundry soap.

Using 1/2 cup per load means that each load of laundry costs about 2.5 cents.

I'd say that's a pretty good deal, wouldn't you?