Laundry Soap

I can now eliminate laundry detergeant from my shopping list. A week ago I made my own laundry soap using a recipe from Rural King. It was fairly easy and made a lot of soap. I've been successfully using it for a week now and am happy with the results. The ingredients for the soap are inexpensive and can be used for many other cleaners. This will eliminate one more expense from our grocery trips.

Here is the recipe I used:
1/3 Fels Naptha laundry soap bar, grated
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 Washing soda (NOT baking soda)
a 2 gallon bucket (I used a large kitty litter bucket because it has a lid)

1. Grate 1/3 of the soap bar and put in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat until the soap melts.

2. Add washing soda and Borax. Stir until dissolved.

3. Pour 4 cups of hot water into bucket. Add soap mixture.

4. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let stand for 24 hours to let soap gel before using.

Use 1/2 cup soap per load.


For fabric softener I am currently using a Bounce Bar that I got on sale with a coupon. This is the second one I have used and do like them. They work well to keep static out of clothes and last a long time. When this bar is done I already have a large bottle of Downy fabric softener that I got on sale with coupon. With it I will make my own dryer sheets. This is something I have done before and it also works well. To make the dryer sheets I tear an old wash cloth in quarters and put in a quart size plastic freezer bag. I then pour in a small amount of liquid softener and squish the rags around in it to saturate them. When drying clothes I pull out one of the rags from the bag and toss it in the dryer with the clothes. These rags can be reused several times before needing to have more softener added. They work just as well as commercial dryer sheets and have a less overpowering scent.