Weekend Project- Laundry Soap, DIY!

Loads, and Loads a day. I have to stay on top of the laundry or else it takes over my house! I’m always washing something, sometimes I think I work at a laundry mat. Unless that is if my kids stay clean past noon and we avoid any and all mud, water,  or sauce, ketchup, juice, milk, glue, glitter, toot paste, sun screen , and no one falls on the ground. In other words, they don’t stay clean till noon, so our average is 2 full loads a day to keep on top of it.( which can and sometimes is always broken into three smaller loads)

Now just think of the laundry soap that has to be used. I used to have to buy soap nearly every other week. Didn’t matter if it was concentrate, or a big huge bottle, tough stains need pre-treating, fully soiled clothes need pre-wash, treating and double rinsing. The soap just disappears, and it adds up very fast.

Since we’ve been trying to cut costs on things that make up a bulk of our bills, it came to a surprise that Laundry soap was something that we nearly always had to buy, along with softener and dryer sheets. It started to make me cringe, something that we average out to daily use was adding up way too fast. Which brings me to the DIY project. Make your own Laundry soap!

This project is an on going thing. I’ve recruited a few of my friends to help out with this. So while I will share the recipe I use today, I will be posting about this a couple more times, it’s turned into the Laundry Soap Project.  You will hear from some other Mom’s that have made the soap, how it holds up and how they compare it to the soap they used to buy.
*Want to join the project? Email me – mburbage@sbcglobal.net Or just comment below, I’d love to hear from other Mom’s trying this out. (or any other recipe for soap you would like to share!)

The recipe I used for Liquid Laundry soap came to be about $ 0.03 per load .

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap
Ingredients:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha Soap ( Ivory and Zote will also work)
½ cup washing soda (found mine at amazon.com)
½ cup borax powder
2 gallons water
Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda (NOT baking soda) and the borax. Stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into a 2-gallon bucket. Add soap mixture and stir. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours until it gels. Use a ½ cup detergent per load of laundry.
Once you start using it, it looks like runny eggs almost, but that’s ok. It’s been super hot here so mine is partly gelled and then really runny underneath the bulk of gel, it still works perfectly for us. As long as it set up to gel over night it’s good to go.
  You only use about 1/2 cup per load and honestly I’ve used less and seen some good results. It also leaves my clothes smelling super fresh, (without using any softener and or dryer sheets) I’ve even noticed the towels are softer so, I’m pretty happy with this mixture. Adjust the amount to your needs or how you see fit, but 1/2 works fine for mud soaked clothes in this house, that’s a huge difference to using nearly a full laundry soap cup (that came with store brand) plus pre-treating AND an extra scoop of powdered laundry boost.

**Stay Tuned for the Laundry Soap Project! Hear from some other Moms using both powdered and liquid homemade Laundry soaps! **