Homemade Laundry Soap

Two weeks without blogging? Yes. Our computer had some issues. But we have a new hard drive and Windows 7 thanks to a family friend.

As I mentioned here, I have been trying to use more natural products. Pinterest has been great for helping me explore different things I can make that are 1) more natural and 2) more cost effective. One of the switches I have been wanting to make is to homemade laundry soap. I typically use Tide Free and Clear or Method. Have you seen the price tag on either of these lately?  Around $7 for a small container. Well this weekend I noticed I am getting low on my last bottle of Method so I took the leap and made my first batch of homemade soap.
I had been collecting supplies over the last few weeks. I ordered a Laundry bar on my last Goat Milk Stuff order in anticipation for the soap making. I also picked up a cheese grater at the dollar store. I don't know about you but the idea of grating soap with the same grater I use for food sounds completely unappealing.

All the goods.

  I did not have a large enough pot so I borrowed one that could hold up to 2 gallons from my parent's house. I picked up a box of Borax and Washing Powder at Publix.

 After doing a lot of reach on various methods, I decided to stick with a liquid detergent. Even though many people use a power in their HE Front loaders, I was skeptical. I decided to only make 1/2 a batch which is one gallon of soap ( as a trial).

 I grated 1/2 of my laundry bar with the cheese grater and put it directly into the pot.

 I then added 1/2 gallon of water to the soap and brought this to a boil. Just so the soap dissolves.

 I then added 1/2 cup of Borax and 1/2 cup of washing powder to the pot and brought this back to boil.

 It will get rather foamy. It almost overflowed at one point.

 Once everything is boiling, I removed the pot from the heat. Things will settle down. Then I added the remaining 1/2 gallon of water. I let things cool then poured it back into the gallon bottle. THAT'S IT!

From the research I did, I saw that a lot of people has consistency issues. I think it depends on the type of and how much soap you use. My ratio seemed to work pretty well. I read that some people could not even pour theirs from the container. Mine is a little lumpy but with pours easily. There really isn't much smell to it but again this will depend on the soap you use. Or you can always add essential oils. I prefer to add this into fabric softener (hint hint upcoming DIY adventure).

So my thoughts? It was easier to make then I thought. The laundry came out just as clean as with commercial products.I used about 1/3 of a cup, just to the fill line on my HE machine. The husband was skeptical but I think he is learning not to doubt me :)

Cost? Well initial output is more. For my soap, powders and grater I spent around $12. Mind you I only used 1/2 cup out of each box so I  will get MANY more batches of homemade soap out of this. The cost will also depend on what soap you use as your base. The breakdowns I have seen ended up as low as 5 cents a load. I plan on keeping track so I can come up with my own breakdown of savings.