Make-Your-Own-Monday

My sister (whom I love dearly) recently referred to me as "Pioneer". This came after a list of things that I do that most people don't do. The list was something like:

• Make my own laundry detergent
• Make my own dish detergent
• Make my own bread
• Use cloth diapers
• Grind my own wheat
• etc...
  

I guess I don't see it all as that weird, but I'll let you decide :-)

For today, here's how I make my own laundry detergent

Supplies:

• Bar Soap (I use Zote, but you can use anything on the laundry isle or even Ivory)
• Borax
• Washing Soda

Note-I buy all of these things at local grocery stores. The links are only so you know what to look for. The washing soda is not nearly that expensive in the stores!

1. First thing you need to do is grate the bar soap. Just use a cheese grater or food processor. Keep whatever you don't use now in a ziplock bag
   
   














2. Measure 1 cup grated soap, 1/2 cup borax and 1/2 cup washing soda into blender. Blend until all the the soap is a powder!


















3. Pour into container. Repeat until you have enough to fill the container

You only use 1-2 Tablespoons per load! I'm too lazy to do the math on it, but Crystal says that it comes out to be $.01 a load! I actually think that mine is cheaper because the Zote is cheaper than the Fels Naptha. But Zote does seem to be difficult to obtain if you don't live in South Texas.

A few notes about this. This soap is safe to use on the new Air Force (and Army) uniforms because there are no optical brighteners in it. However, you should not use it on cloth diapers because of the Borax. But, to my delight, in researching for this post I found another recipe here that has recipes without the Borax! I am so trying those! If I can do laundry for 1-2 cents a load then you know I'm excited about that!

Also, you can use these in front loading washers since they create very few suds. The closest thing to this (that I've found) is Charlie's Soap, but even buying it the cheapest way still cost nearly $.11 per load.

I have been considering trying this recipe with the hot water so I can use a liquid in my cold loads, but I'll have to get a 2-3 gallon bucket first. If I did this method I would definitely add some essential oils to the mixture.