Laundry Soap

Along with my recent endeavor into coupon shopping and building a stockpile, I made my own liquid laundry detergent. There are several recipes floating around on the internet and even some for powdered, if that is what you prefer. This is the one I used.
1 bar Fels Naptha Soap. It is located in the laundry aisle. I really like how it smells. Grate this.

Add it to 12 cups of water, heat and stir over medium heat until the soap melts.

While it melted, I put 1 1/2 cups of Borax, and 1 1/2 cups of washing soda into a 5 gallon bucket. These are also both found in the laundry aisle.

This is your melted soap. It is yellow because the soap itself is yellow. You can use other types of soap, Ivory was the most substituted in what I read.

Add your melted soap and 8 more cups of hot water into the bucket. Stir this until the Borax and washing soda are dissolved. Then add 12 cups, and 2 more gallons of water. I added cold and it seemed to gel instantly with the temperature change. I'll try adding warm water next time. Stir, and stir, and stir some more. I also used a whisk to break up a lot of the clumps. I was literally elbow deep in laundry det.

Let it sit for 24 hours before you use it so that it will gel appropriately. I whisked several times in this 24 hour period. You use 1/2 cup per load and 1 cup for large loads. It is low sudsing so it is safe for HE machines.

This made a little more than 3 gallons for me and it should last me 6 months. I have lots of the Borax and washing soda left to make more batches when I run out. I refilled old detergent bottles that I had kept for this purpose. I did notice that it tends to separate as it sits, so I give the bottle a real good shake to remix it. I may fill up another container halfway so this shaking is a little easier. I am suffering from Tennis Elbow from schlepping around the Squirt so anything weight bearing is a little painful.

If you want a different scent, you can add essenstial oils. 1/2 oz. to 1 oz. depending on what you like. I'm wondering about getting some lemon grass so that it will help detract mosquitoes.

I calculated the cost that it took me to make. Based on what I used of the ingredients, not including the water, it was $2.00 to make just one batch. That works out to .02/load.

This was a lot of fun as I enjoy doing things like this. I am really enjoying this frugal lifestyle that I started. Do me a favor though, when I start cleaning and reusing zip top bags, have me committed, K?