diy laundry soap

One of the projects I've been thinking about doing for ages: making laundry soap.

I'm irritated that such a little container is so expensive. Especially the "environmentally friendly" ones. Buying container after container can't be good for the environment. All that plastic? Bleh.

So I finally did it. It's really quick and easy, except the part where you let it set up overnight.

I followed this recipe from thefamilyhomestead. SUPER EASY. You grate 1/3 a bar of Fels Naptha soap, put it and ½ cup washing soda and ½ cup borax powder in a large pot with 6 cups of water and melt/mix over lowish heat. Then you put 4 cups of just shy of boiling water in a big plastic bucket. I used the kind that cat litter's sold in, cleaned out thoroughly of course. You add your well mixed melty soap water in the bucket. Then mix it some more. Then add 1 gallon (I used a rinsed out 2L pepsi bottle that is going to become a cloche for some delicate plant) plus 6 cups of water, mix one last time. I shook about 5 drops of sweet orange, 5 drops of lemongrass, and 5 drops of lemon essential oils into the mix too. Let the whole thing sit 24 hours to gel up. It does look pretty gelled up within an hour or two.

That's where I'm at in the process. It's been a couple hours.

I'll try actually using it when we get back from vacation. I guess you use about a cup of it. I'm not sure how the gel will get along with my front loader. I think I'll have to put the soap in the ... soap thingie... then chase it with some warm water. If it works, I'll totally make more because IT WAS WAAAAY EASIER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE. and way less smelly. I'd read that Fels Naptha was kinda smelly but I didn't find it a problem.