Pinterest Project - Homemade Laundry Soap

Homemade Laundry Soap

I've seen these recipes floating around pinterest for a while now.... and I recall several years ago that my sis made some laundry soap. From what I recall, it lasted her a while. She gave me some to sample during that time... and it was ok. But it was never anything I wanted to tackle on my own. Well, in my organizing and starting the new year with a different outlook, I decided I'd try it. My "word" is REDUCE... so maybe by doing this, I can reduce my spending... 'cuz we all know buying laundry detergent isn't cheap! So... below is the recipe I followed and the link to the blog I found it on.

Here is what you will need to make 2 gallons: 

• Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
• Arm And Hammer Baking Soda (the big 4lb box)
• 20 Mule Team Borax
• Oxi Clean (2 of the 1.3 lb containers, or 1 3lb container; generic is fine)
• 3 or 4 bars Fels Naptha Laundry Soap (people have had success with both - I used 3)
• 2 containers Downy UnStopables (I'm a Gain fan, so I did 2 containers of Gain Fireworks ) 
• garbage bag (or a garbage bag-lined 5 gallon bucket)
• food processor (to make your life much easier) or cheese grater (worked fine with a grater) 
• container to store your soap 
• measuring scoop

http://aprons-n-pearls.blogspot.com/2012/11/homemade-laundry-soap.html



So -- I spent a couple hours last weekend mixing all this together. The hardest part was probably shredding the Fels Naptha bars. They're a golden yellow color -- and I couldn't get over the fact that it looked like shredded cheddar cheese! Fun! And the Gain Fireworks looked like corn! Ha! Corn and Cheese Laundry Soap!

This batch filled my laundry bucket. I wasn't really impressed. Typically a full laundry bucket only lasts me a good month or two, maybe three. So -- how was this bucket of "corn and cheese" supposed to last me a while longer than the expensive stuff?? The total cost of all supplies was around $28. I managed to find coupons for the OxiClean and the Gain Fireworks - so that helped.  But, $28 seemed a bit expensive for a bucket of laundry soap. We figured it up -- and this bucket should last me until May...for it to be actually a money saving adventure. I have my calendar marked --- we'll see how long it lasts.

 

One thing my sis mentioned about the soap... and why she only ended up doing it once... is that it didn't really suds up/bubble up like they wanted it to.  Well... this is true. There is VERY minimal bubbling as it's running through a load. But several times throughout the cycle, I dipped a few fingers into the water, just to see how it felt. Each time the water felt - and smelled - soapy, so I think it's still doing it's job. I was worried that the detergent would clump on the clothes -- but I didn't experience that either.

I'm going to have to play around with it a bit and figure out my scoop size.  It's not supposed to take a full scoop like the expensive stuff does... so I'm still working on that - finding the perfect size scoop. BUT -- so far, I'm ok with the results. The clothes are clean... and smell nice... so, if this is an actual money saving thing, I will probably try it again. We'll see where we are in May!