Laundry Soap......

So I'm trying an experiment. Well it's an experiment for me, others swear by it already.

I've made my own laundry soap!

I've heard about this for some time now and was never willing to try it, not being a hippie-type person and all. But.....this past year, every time I needed laundry soap and every time I purchased it, I was getting more and more irritated at the cost, even at Costco, especially for something that literally goes down the drain. So I bit the bullet and am trying it. I'll post the results of whether or not I like it and if it actually gets the clothes clean. My first load is in the washer as I type. If it works though, it will be a huge savings!

My initial start up cost was just over $18.00. This included buying a 2 gallon bucket with a lid. Some recipes (just type in "homemade laundry soap" on google) call for a bigger batch and a 5 or 10 gallon bucket. I decided to go for the smaller batch, who wants to be stuck with 10 gallons of goop if you end up hating it! Not me! Oh and by the way, the final product ends up looking like snot. Imagine a 10 gallon container of snot! Chunks and all.

The recipe is pretty basic: Borax, Washing Soda (not to be confused with Baking Soda) and Fels Naptha Bar soap. You can also add an essential oil if you don't like the non-smell (actually Fels Naptha smell) of the mix. I bought a lemon essential oil for $5.49 (this was included as part of my initial $18 cost). Some of the oils were very expensive (like $20!) so I went with a cheap one. Remember me? The cheap Queen!

If my math is correct and I it figured correctly that the Borax will make another 18 batches, the Fels Naptha is enough for 3 batches and so on, then the cost ends up being only .017 cents per load! That's not 17cents people that's 1.7cents. Amazing! Please, please let me like this.

So I hope that the snot chunks dissolve in the washer, my first batch is for a load of towels using hot water. I'll experiment later today with a cold water wash and hope it dissolves properly.

I'll post my results later, cause I know that ya'll are on the edge of your seat waiting!

Juliene