Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe

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.

If I Were a Toy,

I would be this riding toy. Colorful and sturdy. Just waiting for a little boy to come ride me.

When I Get Big I Want to Be Like Daddy

Learning about Food

I now have a helper when I bake. Since my counter space is limited I sometimes work on the floor so Tristan can watch. It is so fun to see him learning new things. He kept taking the eggshell, holding it over the bowl, then shaking it.

Below he bowl with the remains of the pumpkin roll cream on his head. I set it on the floor for him to lick and the next thing I knew, it was on his head.

Woe to Me

“On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.” -Annie Dillard in Teaching a Stone to Talk

“Since when did I begin thinking my contribution to the world was so significant – uncrumbed counters, unlegoed floors -- that I was so necessary, that I couldn't stop, slow, still and commune with Jesus? God's the One who keeps the world in orbit, keeps the river running, not the efforts of any human hands. . . . No one's so important that several times a day, even for a few moments, she can't become small, invisible, in prayer.” Ann Voskamp

Mohawk Boy

This summer Tristan has a natural Mohawk. Since his hair is growing longer it doesn't stand up as much as it used to. The other day he woke up from his nap looking like this.

Summer Equations

Jana and Sonya's Visit = Aching Joy

Maria and Mark= Radiance

Tristan Boy = Growing

Geryll = My Great Man