Making Laundry Soap

So I had heard about making your own laundry soap on that reality show 19 kids and counting, or how ever many kids the Duggars have now. And I was curious, so I looked it up and I guess there are a lot of people that make their own soap, so I thought I would give it a try.
I just made my first batch and it was so easy. Now I still need to test it and see how well I think that it cleans the clothes, but it is suppose to do a good job.
So here is how I did it.

First I grated up a whole bar of soap. I read that you can use any kind that you want. I went with a bar of Spring Fresh Dial soap. I got 2 bars for a $1 at the dollar store. If I like the detergent, I might try to use something more natural...

Then I added 1 gallon of hot water, and turned the stove on high. Mixed until all the soap shavings have dissolved.

Then I added 1 cup of Borax, and 1 cup of washing soda, not the same as baking soda. Bring it to a boil, it might get a little jelly like at this point.  Once it starts to boil and you now have a bubble factory, remove from heat.

Add 1 gallon of cold water to the soapy mixture, and mix all together. This is your laundry soap.

Transfer into 2 milk jugs, or into old laundry soap containers. I used half of a coke bottle as a funnel, so I wouldn't make a huge mess.

And there you have it, 2 gallons of homemade laundry soap! Use 1/4-1/2 cup per load.



Now some people might think I am crazy, you know you can buy that stuff at any store right, but it was the savings that got me, so I had to give it a try. I will break down the cost for you.

1 bar of soap - .50
box of borax - 2.50(19 batches)= .13 per batch
box of washing soda - 2.50(14batches)= .18 per batch
Grand total - .81 for 2 gallons, or 64 1/2 cup loads, or 128 1/4 cup loads
That is a huge savings! Ok now I gotta go and try out my new laundry soap, I will come back and update on how it works. Happy washing:)