A couple of months ago, when I wasn't working yet, I thought it would be fun to see how much money I could save by making my own laundry soap. The Duggar family does it because they have 18 kids and I'm betting that is a LOT of soap! My friend Shauna tried it, and succeeded. So I was sure I could, too! and I DID! and I love it!
So, today I made a second batch. The first one lasted about 2 and 1/2 months.
http://www.duggarfamily.com/recipes.html
Here is the Duggars recipe. What I do is just a little different because that recipe is for 10 gallons of soap. I don't need or have space for that much laundry soap! So I make it in a 2.5 gallon bucket and just use this recipe as a guide.
I use
1/2 bar soap (grated)
1/2 c washing soda
1/4 c borax
Melt soap in 6c water on stove, add powders and whisk until blended well.
Put 8c water in the bucket and add the melted pot of water and soaps.
Whisk up really well and let sit 24 hrs. It will congeal and separate.
Whisk again and pour into other bottles. Add some more water if you like, I add about 1/4 of the bottle I'm pouring into. It must be shaken before each use as it loves to separate. I use about 3/4c per load. It's not so exact on the measuring, and it seems to work fine. One could also add essential oils if for a scented soap, but I like the nonsmell.
Some photos of how it went down:
In the morning I will stir it up and pour it in some Gatorade bottles I use. Ta Da! Approximate price of each:
bar Fels Naptha $2
Washing Powder $5
Borax $5
OR, in researching that (because I saved the receipts for a while, but have misplaced them now) I found this:
http://www.soapsgonebuy.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=PKG1001
it's a kit to make the soap, and the bar is already grated! of course it'almost $30 this way, the grated soap is $22! But hey, to each his/her own!
5 comments:
Oh reeaally?? hmmm...this is quit the frugal homeschoolers thing to do. along the lines of grinding your own wheat flour for bread. maybe i'll get Q to do it.
I just made my own detergent, too! And even though I had to go to two stores to find the three ingredients, it is oddly satisfying (and the prices here are cheaper: $1.50 for soap, $3 for borax, $4 for washing powder). I'm feeling like such a pioneer woman! I'm thinking I might start raising chickens in the back yard; my suburban neighbors will be thrilled. Now I just need to find some petticoats.
it really is oddly satisfying! You are on your own with those chickens!
Hmmm... Interesting idea. We may have to try it - we already make our own diaper wipes for baby...
Can you use any kind of bar soap? Because I'm thinking if you use a pretty-smelling one, then you may have pretty-smelling laundry soap without using essential oils, no?
Amy, yes I'd think so. I just went with the recipe. and I think that ol timey soap might be more "harsh" and that it would clean better because our grandparents used it. But that's just my crazy assumption!
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