Laundry Soap Tutorial

Yes, I am addicted to Pinterest.  It sounds like I am as well as everyone else.  I came across making your own laundry detergent.  I thought about it and I decided to try it myself.  Laundry detergent is very pricey so I thought I would give my own a try.  I checked out numerous blogs to decide how to make it.  I decided to go with the liquid version of detergent since that is usually what I use.  I used a little from each blog and created my own mix.

Products you need to make your own detergent.

• A bucket to mix your ingredients in. I used a 5 gallon Lowes bucket. A 2 gallon will work, but the detergent will be at the top of it. 
• 1/2 cup of Borax.
• 1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda.
• 1/3 Fels Naptha Laundry Soap. 

 Cut the bar of Fels Naptha Soap into thirds.

Use 1/3 of the soap.  Save the other thirds for the next round of making detergent.

Finely grate 1/3 of the soap.

It should look like shredded cheese. (Remember it is soap so don't eat it.)

Dump grated soap in a pot with 6 cups of water.  Heat on low until the soap melts. Make sure you don't let the mixture boil. 

Then once all the soap is melted, add the washing soda and the borax. 

 Stir until it is dissolved.

 

 Keep stirring until the mixture thickens, then remove from heat. 

 Pour 4 cups of hot tap water into your bucket. 

Add the soap mixture and stir it up.

 

Next, add one gallon of hot tap water plus 6 more cups.  This is why I used a 5 gallon bucket so the sloshing didn't get all over my floor.  Stir for a few minutes (or have your interested son stir for a little while) and then let it sit overnight. 

The next day the soap will look funny. 

Mine was runny, but clumpy.  Bubbles were on the top but clumps were in the bottom.  This is normal.  It depends on the type of soap you use and the weather.  

 The detergent is all finished!  

Woohoo!  

You will need 1/2 cup scoop for load.  

This detergent costs 1 cent per load.

You can use it straight out of the bucket you made it in or you can stir it some more and funnel it into a rinsed laundry soap bottle.