Tuesday 2 April 2013

Homemade Laundry Soap

I have been making my own laundry soap for a while now, so since I am making a new batch today, I thought I would share the recipe.  Now, you may think I'm crazy for making this myself, but let me tell you - it is not very difficult or time consuming (takes about 10 minutes, then you leave it overnight), and it is WAY CHEAPER than buying it.

We are a family of 3, and one batch of this (2 litres...8 Cups) lasts about 2 weeks.  I would make a double or quadruple batch, but I don't have the containers....I totally recommend you make larger batches!

Here's the cost breakdown:
These ingredients will last me about a year for my family of 3, except for the bars of soap, which last for 2 months each (6 bars per year).  So, do the math, and that works out to be about $3.25 per month.  NOT BAD :)

Here's the recipe.  I got the original idea from here, but I made some changes.  She does a great job explaining it though!

Homemade Laundry Soap
water
1/4 bar grated soap (I use soapworks, but try whatever you want)
1/2 C borax
1/2 C washing soda (NOT baking soda)
10-15 drops lavender essential oil

Directions:
1) Boil some water.  Remove the pot from heat.  Dump in the soap flakes, and stir until melted (about 30 sec).
2) Add the borax and washing soda.  Stir until dissolved.

3) Add the lavender oil (smells nice and has antibacterial qualities!).  It will smell strong at first, but after it cools, the scent is actually very light.  Add more or less if you like.  You could use a different scent or no scent at all if you'd like.
4) Pour the liquid into a container...I use a large juice pitcher.  Shake it up or stir it.
5) Let it sit for a few hours, or overnight.  It will harden to be like jelly.  Then mash it up (I use a potato masher), or give it a good shake.  Add more water to fill the container, then mash/shake it again.  DONE!


NOTES:
-I use about 1/2 C per load, with warm water.  I like to mix it with a bit of water first to dissolve it a little.
-it won't bubble much because it doesn't have the bubbling chemicals in it.  THIS IS FINE - it will still clean.
-great for HE machines because of the lack of bubbles!

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