Laundry Soap

Kristina found this recipe, in 07', on a blog and printed it out. It is a fairly well know recipe I have found on several 'do it yourself' blogs. We have (mainly) been using this for washing detergent since. When you get the hang of making it you can make a batch without the recipe in a few minutes.

The Recipe

You will need:
A bar of Fels Naptha- grated.
1.5 Cups of Arm and Hammer's Super Washing Soda
1.5 cups of Borax
5 gallon bucket
water

Get a stock pot, fill it 1/3- 1/2 full of water then add the grated Fels Naptha. Put the stock pot over LOW heat. As it warms up the soap will dissolve. Then add the Borax and Washing Soda. At this point it does thicken up. Mix it all up and pour it into the 5 gallon bucket. Then add water to the bucket until it is as full as you want to carry, at least 4.5 gallons of laundry soap. Bring it down by by washing machine with a cup and add 3/4 cup to each load. It will 'set' with-in 24 hours and may need stirring. I use a paint mixing stick to stir mine.

It cleans the clothes great and it smells like Fels Naptha.

One of the reasons we started to make this was cost. The price I paid at Cub Foods was: Super Washing Soda- $2.99, Borax- $4.26, Fels Naptha- $0.99. You need the whole bar of soap to make 5 gallons and you can make several batches with one box of Borax and one box of Washing Soda.

The other reason I like this is I like making things from scratch. Is this from scratch? No. I am dependent on companies to make things for me. I am mixing three products together in warm water to make a liquid/gel laundry detergent. But it is as close as I will get right now.