Homemade Laundry Soap

A co-worker of mine recently called me her "granola friend." (I take that as a compliment!) So in true "granola girl" fashion I thought I would share my recipe for homemade laundry soap. It is so easy to make you will be mad at yourself for buying it. There are several reasons I make my own laundry soap but the main reason is it's cheaper.

I looked up the price for 150 oz of Tide (96 loads) and it is around $17.97.

All of the ingredients that go into my laundry soap don't add up to that, plus I would guess (haven't actually measured--who's got time for that?!?) that it would make at least 2 times that amount.

I also looked up the ingredient list for Tide detergent and there was 24 ingredients and most I couldn't pronounce! yikes.

I think I'll stick to my 4 ingredients!

What you need: Ingredients: *Water *1 bar castille soap or Fels Naptha (shredded in food processor=easy, with shredder by hand=hard) Cost: $1.99-3.50 *Washing soda *Borax:

*Essential oil (optional) orange or lemon is good for laundry

Tools: food processor or cheese grater Large pot Spoon Measuring cups 5 gallon bucket Recycled milk jugs or laundry soap containers

What to do: Shred soap and boil in 4 cups water to dissolve. Fill 5 gallon bucket 2/3 of the way with warm water. Add 1 c washing soda and 1/2 cup borax to 5 gallon bucket. Then add soapy mixture and stir until combine and dissolved. Add essential oil if using.

Let sit overnight in 5 gallon bucket, then stir. Fill old milk jugs or laundry soap holders with your soap using a funnel.

I use about 1/4 cup of laundry soap in my HE washer for each load and shake the jug before each use. I have done a lot of research on homemade laundry soap in HE washers and have read and heard a lot of varying opinions. It seems to get our clothes clean and they don't smell bad, so it must be working.

Now go out and make your own laundry soap--and use the money you save to buy yourself some new clothes!