Laundry Soap for $.87 or less !!!

I have been using this laundry soap for over a year now and I shared the recipe with you when I began to use it and liked it so much. Since that time, I have found several Frugal Families that use this or a recipe really close to this one. I even saw that the show on TLC, 18 kids and counting use this laundry soap!

I just finished making a double batch for my family today, and that will last our dirty family for a VERY long time. So I thought it was a good time to re-share the recipe again with you, since it is so darn easy on your wallet!

But I am so sure now that you will LOVE this Homemade Laundry Soap and like I you will never go back to paying for laundry soap in the store again, unless you have a coupon and you can get it for Free!

It is NOT complicated to make either, if you can make a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese you can make this soap.


The recipe is simple:

1 bar of Ivory soap

4 cups water

1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax

3 gallons warm water

Boil 4 cups of water. While waiting for the water to boil shred one bar of Ivory soap. Once water is boiling slowly ad the shredded soap and stir until it is all melted and you have a soapy soup. While the soap is melting in the boiling water ad the borax and washing soda to the bottom of your large tub or bucket. Then add 3 gallons of water and stir until mixed. Once the soap is melted in the boiling water and you have soapy soup ad that to the 3 gallon mixture and stir with your spoon.

At this point you can just cover it and let it sit 24 hours. Or I found out it is easier to put in to containers at this step. I use 4 containers that I bought at Walmart for $2.79 in the automotive section that are used to recycle oil and an oil filter for a car. (see picture) You can use any container or just reuse an oil laundry soap container. I liked these better because there are two openings one large and one small. Either way wait 24 hours before you use the soap. After 24 hours the soap will be kind of jelled and I just shake my container a bit to loosen it up and then add 1 cup to a load of wash.


This is a picture of all of the items I use to make the Home Made Laundry Soap.



This is a picture of the bar soap shredded up.


This is a picture of the Soapy Soup.


This is a picture of the SafeCycle jug that I bought at Walmart in the Automotive department.


This is a picture of the Laundry Soap all made in the tub.

F.A.Q.

Use a cheese grader or a food processor to shred up the bar of soap.
You can find the Arm & Hammer Washing Soda and the 20 Mule Team Borax in the Laundry Soap isle of most grocery stores. I found the Borax once in a Super Walmart but my regular Walmart does not carry it.

It is easy and not very time consuming to make, I take longer cooking dinner than making this soap.

You will also need a pot big enough to boil 4 cups of water, a big long handle spoon, and some type of big container to mix it all in like a 5 gallon bucket or a huge Rubbermaid tub that I had in the house already, but what ever container you choose make sure it has a lid.

If you want you can use another brand of bar soap if you want I just chose Ivory because my kids have sensitive skin and I like the price and the smell.

I have used the soap in two different front loader energy saver washing machines and it worked fine. I used 1/2 of a cup instead of a whole cup.

THE COST:

I spent about $7.00 for all of the stuff to make Home Made Laundry Soap.
I used to spend about $13.00 every two weeks for a huge container of All.

One box of Borax will make 12 batches and cost $2.89
One box of Washing Soda makes 6 batches $1.89
Six bars of Soap makes 6 batches and cost $1.89

Total $6.67

That is $.87 each batch and that last me a about 3 weeks in comparison to the $13.00 every two weeks I am SAVING BIG GREEN!


HOW WELL DOES IT WORK?

Like I said I used it for several months before I decided to share the recipe just to be sure I liked it. I LOVE IT! It is better than the All that I was buying, my clothes are just as clean but I think that the smell better. I also have a few restaurant clothes that I could never get the restaurant smell out of and this soap knocked that stink right out! I still use a pre-stain treatment like I used to. I love this soap and I will never buy Laundry Soap AGAIN!


You can mix up the recipe to suit your needs here are some variations out there:

Use 1 Bar of Fels Naptha soap instead of Ivory bar soap.
or
Us Ivory with Aloe. It cleans exactly the same but smells really nice.
Or My Mom even found Ivory with Lavender and that smells REALLY GOOD!


I am going to try this one next time because it seems really easy:


1 bar Fels Naptha soap shredded
1 bar Ivory shredded
2 cups washing soda
3 cups borax

Mix this all this together, (no water!) Use 2 heaping tablespoons for each load. Adventures in Self Reliance, uses a couple of old Coffee Mate Creamer Bottles to hold her Laundry Soap Powder.

Some hints for the powder soap:

I find it VERY helpful to grate the soap with my food processor. Then, leaving the grated soap in there, I remove the grating blade and put the chopping blade in, then add the other ingredients and turn it on. It mixes it and makes it very fine, so that I have no problem at all with the soap dissolving in cold water.