Homemade Laundry Soap

I've been making my own laundry soap for 4 months now and I love it! I like the fact that my soap is unscented (scents bother both King Jo and I) and it's environmentally friendly and so, so, so much cheaper. I've been doing the liquid stuff that turns into a thick slime, but my friend Heather inspired me to try the even faster way: powdered laundry soap. It's a 5 minute job and I made enough to last me 3-4 months. I didn't average out the cost but I'm guessing it's about 1 cent a load since it's the same ingredients as my liquid soap recipe and that was the price average for the liquid soap.

I grated two bars of Ivory soap with my cheese grater by hand. Then I added 2 Cups of Washing Soda, 2 Cups of Borax, and stirred it up. I keep my homemade laundry soap in an ice-cream tub with a lid on it. 2 T. per load seems to do just fine getting my laundry nice and clean! Since our apartment building has a high-efficiency washer and I usually do a double rinse and use hot water I haven't noticed a problem with the dry stuff not dissolving or flaking on the clothing. If you use cold and have an old washer this might happen and you may have to try making the liquid kind! To make the liquid kind you need to boil two cups of water on the stove, and add 1 bar of grated soap. Stir on medium until mostly dissolved. Pour into a large bucket and add one gallon of hot tap water and 1 Cup of Borax and 1 Cup of Washing Soda. Stir well for a few minutes and then put into old, empty detergent containers or an ice-cream bucket. Let sit overnight. Will turn into a thick slime. Use 1/4 C. per load.