Homemade Laundry Soap

I am ALL about saving money!  I've been thrifty since I was a little girl.
My parents raised me to understand the value of a dollar & to spend it wisely.
Now that I'm grown up with a family of my own, I understand the VALUE of those life lessons.

As a stay-at-home wife & mom, I've made it my mission to make financial contributions to our household by finding creative ways to save.
As James so diligently works providing for our family, it's the least that I can do to be careful with the hard-earned money that he brings home. 
I've learned all sorts of ways to stretch a dollar & ultimately, to keep as many of them in our pocket as possible!

Here is one of the newest ways I've found to cut laundry cost ...
by using HOMEMADE LAUNDRY SOAP!
Using regular store brands, the cost per load is between 9 - 13 cents.
By using this recipe, we are saving a bundle with our cost at 1 - 3 cents per load!
With these few ingredients, you will be able to make batch after batch of this soap...
and it only takes a few minutes!


                                            Here's my recipe.
(a combination of the Duggar's recipe & another one shared with me by a friend.)

1 c. Arm & Hammer super washing soda
1/2 c. Borax
1 c. dry color-safe bleach (Purex)
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
4 c. hot tap water

 

Grate the Fels-Naptha soap bar. In kettle, add soap & hot water. Stir constantly over med. heat til completely dissolved.

Fill 5 gal. bucket half full of hot tap water. Pour in melted soap & all other ingredients. Stir well til all powder is dissolved. Fill up bucket with hot water. Put on lid & let sit overnight to thicken (it will be a watery-gelled consistency). Fill a used clean laundry soap dispenser half full of soap & fill to top with water. Shake before each use.

yield: 10 gallons
Use 1/2 c. for regular washer -- 1/4 c. for front loader (HE)

I made our 1st batch in late April & it lasted til this week.
That's 6 mths for a family of 5!

Just a couple answers in advance to some FAQ's:
-It WILL NOT be a solid gel...more a watery-gel consistency.
-This is not an overly sudsy soap...don't be alarmed.  It will still do the job.
-A couple drops of essential oil can be added to final product.

We chose not to add the essential oils for a few reasons...
1) It smells nice enough as it is  
2) Most of the fragrance in our laundry comes from the fabric softener 
3)  The little bottle of oil costs more than all the ingredients for the soap! 
     Remember, we are doing this to CUT costs.