Homemade Laundry Soap 101

Homemade Laundry Soap 101

 This is so awesome!  I made a batch several months ago and I am just now making it again.  I save so much money by doing this and the time spent making the soap was nothing, 30 minutes start to finish. 


The process is very easy and you are going to save TONS of money!!!  Possible $150+ in savings for a family of four. 


Here is what you need to make SIX 4 gallon batches, which should last a year and costs around $13.....FOR ONE YEAR of laundry soap! 


To start your first batch you will need:
1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (has to be washing soda)
1 cup Botax
1 bar of Zote soap (preferrable the pink bar)
2 large stock pots (the bigger the better)
1 5 gallon plastic bucket with a lid

1 gallon of water in the small stock pot
2 gallons of water in the larger stock pot
Boil the water in BOTH pots.  Make sure you have enough room in the smaller pot for the mixer to expand and foam a little because it will when you add the ingredients to it.

While you are waiting for the water to boil, you can grate 1 bar of Zote soap.  I use my salad shooter to gring up my cheese but it is easy to grate by hand too. 

Add grated soap to the pot with 1 gallon of boiling water.  Stir it until the soap is melted, about 5 minutes or so.  It will get clumpy but keep stirring and it will turn into pink soap. 

Next add 1 cup of washing soda and 1 cup of borax to the pink soap mixture.  Beware - it will foam!  If it foams over your pot just turn the heat down a little.  When you clean up your stove will be nice and clean.  Stire until completely dissolved.  About 5 minutes of so.  Remove from heat.  This is what it will look like with all three ingredients cooked together. 

Pour the pot filled with 2 gallons of boiling water into the 5 gallon bucket.  Then pour the pot filled with your pink soap int the bucket.  Stir these together then add 1 gallon of cold water.  Stire some more until completely mixed together.  Put the lid on tight and let it sit overnight.  Make sure you give it a good stir before you go to bed and again when you wake up.  This will give it a nice consistency and will break up any lumps.  I used a spatula to stir it up.  You can use your hands or what ever you want to. 

And that is it!!!  4 gallons of laundry soap ready to use.  I poured some of the mixture into my old Tide jug that I was paying over $0.25 a load for and ENJOY!  You can add a few drops of essential oils to the liquid if you want to.  However, the soap does smell clean and fresh without it.  Just a personally preference.  The liquid soap works in HE washing machines too. 

Now, when you start to run low in a few months, you can make your own laundry soap again. 

*Laundry soap will be gel like when it is done.  You will have to stir it up or stake your laundry bottle before each use. 

LAUNDRY DIRECTIONS:

1/2 cup of laundry soap per load.  If you have a larger capacity wahser or an extra dirty load, use 1 cup of soap.  The soap will not be sudsy in the washing machine. 

This equals out to be about $0.016 a loan for 1/2 cup and $0.03 for 1 cup.  I use to pay about $0.30 a load using Tide.  HELLO SAVINGS!!!  $13 for a years worth of laundry soap is a BARGIN $$$$. 

There are five of use in our house and I made my first batch in October and this is my second batch.  So it took me a little over 4 months to go throught my first batch.  I am right on schedule. 

If you are having a hard time finding the supplies, I know that I saw the Zote at the Mexican Store in the Red Mountain Mall by the cemetary and at Smiths.  The washing soda might be a little tougher to find.  I believe Macys in UT carries it but the Mexician Store might order it in if you asked them.  I got all of my supplies in PHX last summer at a mexican grocery store.  If you are having troubles finding any of the ingredients, let me know. 


:)  Mardi