#265 - I Finally Made Laundry Detergent

I'm not sure why I've been so intimidated by making this homemade laundry soap that everyone has been making since the Duggars' first introduced it. But today I finally did it! And guess what?! - It is super easy! :)

The recipe I got from a dear friend on Facebook:

1 Fels Naptha Bar

1 cup Borax

1 cup WASHING Soda

Grade the Fels Naptha bar up with a cheese grader or food processor like above^.

Fill a medium saucepan with hot tap water and add the shaved soap and heat on medium until it starts to dissolve.

I just kept stirring it and making sure the small pieces were dissolving.

When it is dissolved take a clean 5 gallon bucket and fill it halfway with hot tap water.

Then add the melted soap and stir.

Next add the cup of Borax and the cup of WASHING Soda:

And stir!
Then fill the rest of the bucket up with hot tap water.
And stir some more!
Her instructions said to put the lid on the bucket and let it sit overnight. That it would be a little gooey and lumpy. You just need to stir it again and break up the clumps. I've been saving my ALL detergent bottles so I'm going to fill a bottle with about 1/4 water and then add the detergent mixture to it and shake away! I also got some fragrant oils to add to the individual bottles in case I want to make it smell a little better. I can't completely quit cold turkey with the scent thing. So in the next few days I'll add some pictures of my finished product and give a review of how well we like using this new and cheap laundry detergent!

I had the girls help me do the math (school work!) on how much it costs to make a batch and here is what we come up with:

Borax = 8 ounces $.42

Washing Soda = 8 ounces $.57

Fels Naptha = $1.03 (w/tax)

Total for 5 gallons (640 oz.) = $2.02

1 Peter 4:10
"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms."