Laundry Soap

 I have found that making my own laundry detergent helps save money on an ongoing basis.  I purchased Sam's Club powdered detergent for $15.88 for a 32.5 pound bucket.  I found this recipe on www.hillbillyhousewife.com and have made it ever since.  I make the same amount of detergent for $3.50.  It is in a gel form instead of a power, but it gets our clothes just as clean if not cleaner (and I have some challenging laundry due to my husband's occupation.)  I get the ingredients at Ace Hardware.  Some of the larger grocery stores may stock them.

Ingredients:


1 bar of Fels Naptha Soap, grated
1 cup of Borax
2 cups of Washing Soda
1 cup of Baking Soda
Hot Water
A large bucket or container that holds from 4 - 5 gallons



Grate the soap into a saucepan.  You can use a box grater but it is much easier with a food processor. ( I bought my food processor for $10 at a garage sale so if I can find another one at that price I will probably buy another one so I can have one for this and one for food.  As it is, I'm just really careful to make sure I get all the soap out after using it.)

Add 4 cups of hot water to the pan.  Simmer on low and stir occasionally until the soap melts completely into the water.

Add the borax, washing soda and baking soda and one more cup of hot water to the pan.  Simmer on low and stir until the powders dissolve completely.  It will still be somewhat grainy.

Put 3 gallons of hot water in the large container.  Add the mixture to the hot water.  Mix with a large spoon until it completely dissolves.

Let cool overnight.  You will notice that it turns into a thick gel.  Use one cup of the gel per load of laundry.

$15.88 versus $3.50