Laundry soap is expensive. Like, whoa.
Especially if you try and buy an all natural eco-friendly brand.
I always talked myself into buying it.
You know, better for the environment, and better for our skin and it's not like we use 5 gallons a week or anything.
Still, if there's an easy way to make an all natural product for less, I'm all for it!
I researched lots of homemade laundry soap recipes (there are lots out there) and kind of picked the one I thought would work best - and be the easiest!
I tried to take some half way decent pictures of the steps that I was slightly confused about while reading the recipes, so I hope they help.
It really is easy.
Here goes!
For the entire recipe you'll need:
Water
An old laundry detergent container
1 bar Fels-Naptha soap
1 cup of washing soda (it's different from baking soda)
1/2 cup of borax
5 gallon bucket & funnel (make things easier)
The first step is to grate the bar of fels-naptha soap into a pot.
(I was surprised that it was yellow...I guess I was expecting it to be white??)
It will look like grated cheese :)
Add about 4 cups of water to the pot and melt the soap over medium-low heat, stirring every few seconds.
Fill a 5 gallon bucket 1/2 full with warm water.
Once the soap is all melted, pour the liquid into the bucket.
Then, mix in the washing soda and borax. Stir that up until it's dissolved.
Add warm tap water until the bucket is full.
Put the lid on and let it sit overnight to 'gel'.
We added another 4 cups of warm tap water and attempted to stir some of the large clumps out...it actually helped.
And then it's time to pour!
Notice my lovely assistant?! :)
This is when a funnel comes in handy.
Our mixture was still a little on the chunky side, but we used the back end of the spoon to help it get through the funnel.
Fill your container 1/2 way with the soap mixture.
Add warm tap water to make the container full.
Give it a good shake and you'll have your very own laundry soap!
And Ta Da! Make yourself a cute little label, and be proud of the fact you just helped the environment and saved your family money...aahhhhh, I love multitasking.
You'll have lots of soap mixture left over in your 5 gallon bucket. Just pop the lid on and save it. When your soap runs out, add more of the mixture and more water. The 5 gallon bucket will make 10 gallons of detergent...and all for only a few dollars :)
For those who like their laundry to have more of a scent, you could add a few drops of essential oil to each container you make - lavender would be amazing!
Cheers to doing laundry!
