I used:
- Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
- Borax
- One bar of Fels-Naptha Soap
- Soap fragrance oil
- One five gallon bucket
I didn't have any of this stuff on hand so I had to buy it all (including the bucket). That means that this five gallon batch of detergent cost me about $15. The next batch, however, will cost me about $4.
This is So Easy to make!
Grate your bar of soap. (From what I read online you can use any kind of bar soap for this but the scent of the soap will be incorporated into the detergent.)
This was probably the most work I did on this recipe.
When the entire bar was grated it looked like I had a bowl full of shredded cheese.
Add the shredded soap to a pot of water. Heat it on the stove and stir until the soap is dissolved. I recommend adding just a bit of soap at a time until it's all melted.
After the soap is dissolved fill your bucket halfway with hot water and add the soap mixture.
Add one cup of washing soda and half a cup of borax to the bucket and stir until it's all dissolved.
Fill the bucket the rest of way with hot water. Stir.
Let cool.
You don't have to add fragrance but I did. You can use essential oil if you would like or use soap fragrance like I did. I went to Hobby Lobby and found this:
The recipe I followed said about 30 drops of essential oil but since I used this soap scent, after reading the directions, I opted for the the whole bottle. (It was a Small bottle.)
Stir in the scent/oil, cover and let sit overnight.
When you open it the next morning it will be like a watery sort of gel.
I stirred it up, put the lid back on and slid the bucket next to my washing machine.
When I do a load of laundry I just dip it out and toss it in the washer.
I. Love. It.
It works really well and it makes my house smell really good when I'm washing!
Try it! You might like it!
5 comments:
That is really cool! I expected it to something far more complicated than it really seems.
How much of it do you use in a load of laundry?
I have heard consistently good reports about homemade detergent. Glad you tried it!!
Your soap recipe made me hungry for cheese until that last photo. Then I kinda lost my appetite. But I'm sure the soap is great!
Some of my friends make home made laundry soap. I haven't tried it yet. I think I might have to. BTW, just an fyi, the background on your blog (post area) now makes it really hard to read the print since the print isnt dark enough. Just wanted to let you know.
Wasn't it easy!!! I love my lavender scent! Next, we should make our own dryer sheets!
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