Homemade Laundry Soap

Do NOT try to eat this recipe!

BUT, it may very well be your favorite concoction ever.

Would you believe me if I told you I haven't bought laundry detergent for at least ten years? And I spend less than 75 cents for 64 loads of laundry?

And yes, I still do laundry :)

No, this is not a hoax, and no, you don't hear Billy Mays's voice in the background.

Using a few easily found ingredients and about 20 minutes a month, you can live in my frugal world.

(Don't you just love "frugal"? It's a much nicer word than "cheap", isn't it?)

Here are the four ingredients you need:

1/2 bar soap (I use Fels Naphtha, but you can use any soap - Ivory, home made, Artisan, etc. Just make sure it's pure soap)

1/2 cup Washing Soda (Note: this is not the same as Baking Soda. They are different chemical compounds)

1/2 cup Borax (Yes, the stuff that used to sponsor the TV show "Death Valley Days". Did you love that show as much as I did?)

2 gallons water

This is so easy....

First, shave your soap into small pieces. I use a knife, other people use their cheese grater. You want the pieces to be small so they'll melt easily.

Heat one gallon of water and dissolve the soap in it.

You can either do this in a big pot (I have an old 2 gallon stock pot that I use), or you can pour hot water into a large bucket (at least 2 gallons) and dissolve it there.

In any case, stir the soap pieces in the hot water until they're mostly dissolved (I'm never patient enough to get them all the way there...).

Add 1/2 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup borax (make sure there aren't any lumps in these powders), and stir until the powders are dissolved. The mixture will thicken while you're stirring.

Now add another gallon of water - cold water - and stir it all together.

Pour it into containers (I use old ice cream buckets), and there you go.

I use about 1/4 cup soap per load of laundry. It worked great in my old top loading washer, and its low-suds is perfect for my new front loader.

The consistency is kind of a watery gel that separates, but just scoop up the gel and liquid together. I keep a small plastic cup in the bucket to use to measure it.

In case you're wondering how well it works...well, my boys are Eagle Scouts. They camped year 'round for six years. You know the drill - mud, dirt, wet, fish guts, mud, more mud, and {{shudder}} boy sweat.

No problem.

And if you use powder, you can use the same recipe, but just mix the dry stuff together (make sure the soap is in very small pieces) and use two tablespoons per load.

So, lets talk frugal living today - What's your favorite frugal tip?