Homemade laundry soap

A little over a year ago a good friend of mine really turned me on to a lot of DIY (Do it yourself) cleaning and beauty products.

 

To be completely honest, at first I thought she was nuts. (Sorry, Lea)

I used to think that people who made there own laundry soap and cleaners were people who were over sensitive about the environment and over the top crazy.

 

I have never been the type of person who worries about chemicals in my house or making sure I buy organic, BUT I am a freak about not spending money!! (I will say that over the past few months I have changed a bit in my thinking and I am glad we are a chemical free house :) Mostly!)

 

Saving money was honestly my main reason for looking into making my own laundry soap. At the time I was about to have baby number 6 and we did anywhere from 2-4 loads of laundry a day!! That is a LOT of laundry soap!!

 

I do coupon and I always stocked up on laundry soap when it was on sale. I probably never paid more that $1 a bottle for laundry soap, but when I found out that I could make 10 GALLONS of soap for less than a dollar I decided I would give it a try.

 

The first time that I ever did the laundry after using the homemade stuff I literally smelled EVERY SINGLE piece of laundry that I pulled out of the washing machine before I put it in the dryer. I was sure that it wasn't going to smell clean, but I was wrong!!

 

It cleans just as good as any commercial cleaner does!!

I have been making my own laundry soap ever since! This laundry soap success started my DIY obsession with making everything else that I possibly could at home :)

 

It is very easy to make and takes me probably about 5 minutes to do!

 

Here is what you will need-

 

4 cups HOT water

1 bar of Ivory soap

 A cheese grater (have one that you will only use on soap, not cheese)

1 cup of washing soda (found in chemical/laundry section of store)

1/2 cup of borax (Also found in chemical/laundry section)

5 gallon bucket (preferably with lid)

 

Directions-

 

Boil 4 cups of hot water on the stove.

 

While the water is boiling I grate my soap.

 

 

When water is boiling take it off of the stove. Add the Ivory soap, washing soda and Borax and mix until dissolved.

 

Then pour mixture into the 5 gallon bucket and fill the rest of the bucket with water.

 

 

Let the soap sit over night to thicken up. (It will not be really thick, but you will see some thick clumps throughout it in the morning.)

 

 

Mix equal parts soap and water into your own container.

**Remember to mix up the mixture before you use it because it settles on the bottom.

 

 

My bottle holds 3 cups of soap and 3 cups of water.

 

 

 

Now it is ready to use!!!!

 

I use about 1/2 capful per load and each batch lasts us about 3-4 months!!

 

** This soap does not suds up like regular laundry soap making it safe to use in HE washers as well.