DIY Laundry Soap
I make our laundry soap. I've done it for several years, mainly because my kids have sensitive skin. We were paying a lot of money for detergent that was making them itchy and uncomfortable. I did some research and then some experimenting, and, eventually, came up with this recipe which has served us well.
1 Cup Borax
1 Cup Washing Soda
1 Bar Fels Naptha Soap, grated
1 Tablespoon per load
The hardest part is grating the soap. Really. Most recipes similar to this call for half a bar, and I'm pretty sure it's because they got tired of grating.
You can use your food processor to grate the soap if you have that option.
Once you grate the soap, mix it with the Borax and Washing Soda and shake well. This makes roughly 3 cups of Laundry Soap and will last our family of 4 about 1 month. I keep a bar of Fels Naptha around as a stain remover, too. Dampen the stain, rub the bar over the stain, and then let sit until the next time you do laundry. Here, it's never very long.
It's a pretty good money saver, too. For about the same as one name brand Laundry Detergent, I can purchase the stuff to make 8 batches of this.
I have not seen any adverse reactions to our clothes or to my washing machine (I have an OLD washing machine, we're talking all metal, opens on the top, can't see into it, old) from using this laundry soap, and it has a pleasant scent.
If you try it, let me know what you think.
Guess what? I'm going to go do laundry.