Homemade Laundry Soap, part Deux

I have blogged about this before and I am here again. Just to let you know that I am still making my homemade laundry soap. In the past 2+ years I have bought (from the store) two bottles of laundry soap. I had to...between moving and Christmas and moving and painting and teaching and cooking and all the daily things, I just did not have time to make it.


So, with the help of my trusty side kicks I thought we would walk you through the process....here we go!

You will need: A large pot, a long spoon, cheese grater, measuring cups, Borax, Arm & Hammer washing soda, a funnel and a bar of soap. I use Lever 2000 just because that is what we bath with.

Grate the soap with a cheese grater. Then cover it with warm water. Put it on the stove on low heat until all the soap has melted. Keep stirring it so it does not go over the top.

While the soap is melting on the stove, you pour into your 5-gallon bucket a cup of borax and 1/2 cup of washing soda.

Pour the hot melted soup into the bucket and stir until everything has melted together. I use a long metal spoon and a very sweet little girl to help do the stirring.

 It will look all frothy and smell so good. Just keep pouring in the hot water until it fills up the 5-gallon bucket. This has to sit for 24 hours before pouring it into your bottle. And when you mix up your bottle, that also needs to sit overnight.

 While mom's hands are busy, this is what can happen when you give a 5 year old your camera. "Be sure to get some shots of the mixture." I say. This is what I got.....

So, last but not least....pour the mixture into your own bottle. You want to do equal parts of soap and water. I use a big ALL Laundry Soap dispenser and it takes 12 cups of soap and water. I just use a 2 cup measuring cup and scoop it out.

This simple recipe saves us so much money and worry. I NEVER worry about running out of laundry soap.