Homemade Laundry Soap

If some of you have read my blog before you may know that I am a professed tightwad.  If I can get it free, even if that means jumping out of a car to grab it from the side of the road, I will.  Also, nothing bugs me more than spending money on something that literally goes down the drain within a few minutes of use.  I am talking about laundry soap.  I can't believe how expensive laundry detergent is.  It's almost criminal and you will agree with me when you find how few ingredients are actually in a container of soap and how easy it is to make your own.

Here is the list of items you will need:
1 five gallon pale with lid
1 bar Fels Naptha Soap, cut in half and grated
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup Washing Soda (not baking soda)
Water

Take your 1/2 bar of grated soap and put it in a saucepan with about 4 cups of water - you don't need to measure the water.  Turn on the burner and let the soap melt. *UPDATE - See Below*  This is the worst part of the process.  Fels Naptha has an extremely strong odor and if you have allergies this may cause you some discomfort.  (On a side note:  I do want you to know that the odor does not linger on clothes and not one person I know who uses this soap has had a problem with it when they do their laundry.)  Next, pour the melted soap mixture into your five gallon pail and add some more water, probably 1/4 full.  Then add your 1/2 C. of Borax and Washing Soda.  Stir. Lastly, add more water so the pail is half full and stir again. Cover and let sit overnight. The next day you will have a thick mixture, kind of like Jelllo.  Add more warm water so your pail is full and stir. Now, your soap is done. Disclaimer:  The constancy is a bit repulsive - I think it looks a bit like snot!

For easier use transfer some of your soap to another laundry detergent container or a container that is a thicker plastic.  Do not use a milk carton as it may erode the plastic.  For front loaders you use about 1/4 C. of soap and for top loaders 1/2 to 1 C. depending on how large your drum is.

I really think this is great soap.  It takes out odors and cleans well. Plus our family, with all its allergies, is able to use this laundry detergent.  And most importantly for me is the price.  Fels Naptha sells for a $1 a bar and you use so little of the Borax and Washing Soda that they will last you years.  I use almost a cup of soap in my top loader as it is a super capacity.  This comes out to more than 80 loads for less than $2.  If you have a front loader the savings is even more impressive:  320 loads!  You could almost do a load a day for a year and only spend $2!!!!

One last thing.  You may be wondering can you use any bar of soap.  Yes, but the ingredients of the Fels Naptha is what helps it clean so well.  But if you have a favorite bar of soap, try it out.  For a 4-H project we microwaved a bar of Ivory soap and I used the leftover Ivory to make a batch of soap and it worked quite well. Good luck and have fun making your own inexpensive laundry soap.


*UPDATE*  Instead of letting the soap melt on the stove in a pan of water I now grate my soap and place it in my 5 gallon pail.  Then I boil up 8 C. or so of water and pour it into the pail.  Place the lid on top, but DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT seal the pail as the next morning your pail will look as if someone ran it over with a large tractor - the pail actually will compress onto itself.  But within 12-24 hours your soap will have completely melted and gelled together.  Then heat up some more water and add to the bucket along with your 1/2 C of Borax and Washing soda and stir.  Add more warm water until it is half full.  Let sit 12-24 hours and add the rest of the water to make your 5 gallons of soap.  The reason I let the soap melt/dissolve instead of heating on the stove is I hate the noxious fumes wafting all over my home.  This way takes a bit longer, but I think it is much safer and healthier for those of us with allergies.