Monday, August 1, 2011

Homemade Laundry Soap: Revisited

Making laundry soap is super-easy.
I did mine the other night while cleaning my kitchen.
Yes, it was bad.
I was baking, give me a break....;)

The ingredients:  1 bar Fels Naptha Soap, 1/2 c. Borax, 1 c. Washing Soda + lotsa water!


See there?  I wrote the "recipe" on the box so I wouldn't forget!
Just chop up the Fels Naptha bar & melt it in some hot water.

But not TOO hot!  This is what happens if it gets too hot, too fast:  Bubble City!

Just a good ol' 5 gallon bucket.  Nothin' fancy - just make sure you buy the lid!

While the soap is melting (and in between doing the dishes), dump the Borax & W.S. in the bucket.

Make sure all your soap is dissolved on the stove - then dump it into the powders.

I usually add some hot tap water to the powders before dumping in the melted Fels Naptha off the stove.
It's probably just a needless worry, but I'm always afraid the soap will be TOO hot and somehow damage the bucket....

You can also add in some essential oils.
I've done this twice and it never seems to make that much of a difference to me.
I'm an aroma-therapy girl, though, and I *really* like my scents.  I just can't get it strong enough...oh well!


To finish, just fill up the 5-gallon bucket with hot tap water, stir & close the lid.
I left mine right there in the (clean) sink ~ I was out of laundry soap and needed to fill my containers the next morning.
*see?!  Kitchen all cleaned up, dishes done & laundry soap made!

All I had to do the next morning was mix up the watery gel-like mixture, then put it in my smaller laundry soap containers (just some "ALL" laundry detergent containers I saved the last few times I actually *bought* laundry soap).  I put in HALF of my concentrated laundry soap & HALF hot tap water.  Then I simply shake the container like crazy and I'm done!  I shake up the container each time I use it - just to get rid of any big lumps.

And there ya go ~ Now I gotta go do some more laundry....

3 comments:

Blended in Texas said...

See, I have tried homemade laundry soap before and I couldn't get over the fact that it didn't have the normal laundry 'clean' smell. =( I missed it so much that I had to go back to store bought. Yes, pitiful I know...

Unknown said...

That part really *is* hard....Every once in a while (maybe once a year or so), I'll buy a small container of laundry soap and wash through all my clothes with it ~ just for the smell! I need to find a way to add scent to my homemade stuff....;)

Unknown said...

I've tried making our laundry soap. It didn't clean our clothes. So I went back to using the only thing that works.. Tide. I'd love to find a natural detergent that actually works.