June 24, 2012

DIY Laundry Soap!

So some friends of mine make their own laundry soap and just love it.  I've been wanting to try it for some time but finding the time to grate soap is not the easiest... But I figured that with Baby J on the way, I'd probably want something better for their sensitive skin besides Dreft.  Dreft isn't bad or anything, but I'm not a huge fan of the smell of it NOR I am a fan of buying laundry detergent for me and the hub's clothes and a separate one for baby.

So I found this tutorial on Pinterest, it is FABULOUS. The Bobbi over at How Does She has an awesome idea with adding the Purex crystals, which makes the whole thing smell like heaven.  So here is my break-down of the tutorial and my results.

I did not use the Oxyclean or baking soda because I totally spaced it when I was at the store, but I did have 1 box of Borax, 1 box of Arm & Hammer Washing Powder, 1 container of Lavender scented Purex Crystals, and 2 bars of Fel Naptha laundry soap.  I could have used my food processor to grate the soap, but I like to use that for food and didn't want to wash it 18 times to get all the soap residue off of it.  Instead I bought a super cheap metal cheese grater and went to town.  It took me around 30 minutes to get it all grated and I lost some finger skin in the process.  If I were doing this again, I would wear gloves during the grating.  That being said, the rest of the process was totally easy.

I didn't have a 5 gallon bucket to mix in (DANG!) so I had to use 2 large Tupperware containers instead.  I just dumped half of my soap shavings into one bowl, the other half in the other bowl.  Then each bowl got 1/2 of the Purex, Borax, and Washing Powder.  I mixed each with a spoon fairly thoroughly until the mix looked pretty homogenous.  Then I dug around in my craft zone until I found some really perfect and awesome glass containers from last Christmas... they were supposed to be etched glass sugar/flour holders, but I didn't end up making them.  Sorry Mom!  That being said, I used the two containers, which I would estimate at 28 - 30 ounces each (maybe more), the Purex container, 28 ounces, AND a gallon sized Ziploc bag.  The Ziploc didn't get full, but about half way for sure.  If you wanted to do this process a little more organic or fragrance free, I would recommend using essential oils in the mixing process instead of the Purex crystals.  Also, use the white Zote soap instead of the pink version or the Fel Naptha, as those two are scented.  The essential oils will leave your clothes very lightly scented, but they are anti-viral and what not so you are still getting a super awesome cleaning.

I think the most awesome thing about this detergent is that for around $15.00 I made enough to last us a loooooong time, as we'll only need 1 to 2 tablespoons per load.  That is so awesome, because the cost of liquid detergent and fabric softener is the same, if not more, and this will last me at least as long as two bottles of each did, probably longer.  And I did try it today, it smells AMAZING!!  Goodbye Tide, hello DIYSoap!

So get out there and make yourself some laundry detergent!  The price is right and you get to pick the scents and everything!

Go ahead and check out the tutorial, linked HERE.


3 comments:

  1. I have been trying to convince Mom to make our own laundry detergent SOOOOO BADDDDDD. She absolutely refuses, though! Meh. :C

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    1. Well it was really really easy and super cheap!

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    2. I'm working on getting her to just give in and do it. Seriously, the way we go through laundry detergent with six+ people in the house, it's SO much cheaper.

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