A few weeks ago, Halibut and I tried an experiment. We actually made laundry soap out of three inexpensive ingredients. I was a little skeptical that it would clean as well as the commercial soaps I'd been buying. But since then, I've been pleasantly surprised! Here's how we did it:
- 1 C Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
- 1/2 C Borax
- 1 whole bar Fels-Naptha heavy duty laundry soap
- Water
- essential oil (optional) - example: lavender, rosemary, eucalyptus, lemon....
**Must be WASHING SODA. Baking soda won't work, neither will Arm & Hammer detergent.
Containers!
This liquid laundry soap recipe yields 10 Gallons.
So make sure you have plenty of containers
to store it in!
Grate the soap bar and melt in a saucepan with 4 cups of water
Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full with hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda, and borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover, and let sit overnight to thicken.
In the morning, the soap will have a thick, jell-like consistency. Fill the soap containers 1/2 full, and fill the rest of the way with more water! Shake or stir.
If using essential oils, add them now. Use 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons of soap.
I used Grapefruit essential oil and red soap dye in this bottle. If you don't use dye, the soap will look something like egg-drop soup. But that's okay, it cleans just fine. Remember to shake the container before each load, though. It has a tendency to coagulate...
I used Grapefruit essential oil and red soap dye in this bottle. If you don't use dye, the soap will look something like egg-drop soup. But that's okay, it cleans just fine. Remember to shake the container before each load, though. It has a tendency to coagulate...
This could last us about 6 months, maybe more. Total cost about $2.00
To use add: 5/8 Cup per load for top load machine (approx 180 loads)
1/4 Cup per load for front load machine (approx 640 loads)
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