Several months ago my mother-in-law gave me a recipe for making my own laundry soap. At first I was dubious. There seemed to be too much water in the recipe and not enough soap. It does not produce suds, so when I looked into the washer I doubted if it was working. However, after 2 months of using this soap I and am pleased with the results. My whites are whiter! Static cling seems to be reduced! I am certain my clothes are clean! Also, my grocery bills are lower!
Here's what you need:
1 bar Fels Naptha Soap
1 Cup Borax
1 Cup Washing Soda (this is not the same thing as baking soda)
1 5 Gallon Bucket
Grate the soap into a kettle of 6 cups hot water. Heat and stir till it melts. Pour the mixture into the bucket. Stir in the borax and washing soda. Fill the bucket the rest of the way with hot water and stir well.
The next morning the soap will be a thick gel. Stir it again. Mine looks like a thin gel with some white flecks of soap in it. Add 1 cup of detergent to every load of laundry.
If you miss the scent that's added to many laundry soaps, you could add some essential oil to the bucket.
For those of you who live in the Meadville area, Valeskey's sells all the supplies. I'd say I paid around $12 for the supplies, including a bucket. The borax and washing soda come in big boxes, with many cups inside. There are 80 cups of laundry soap in a 5 gallon bucket. So, you can do 80 loads of laundry with one batch! I didn't figure out the cost per load or batch, but this is cheap. Also, if you have trouble with allergic reactions, this soap has no filler or perfume to bother your skin.
If you want to read more on this, here is a recipe for powder detergent that looks similar.
