Make Your Own Laundry Soap - Easy and Cheap

Step-by-step directions on making laundry soap in your kitchen:

You will Need:

- 3 Gal container with good sealing lid.
- Cheese grater
- Arm and Hammer powdered detergent
- Borax
- Bar of Ivory soap

Yes, it does say to use detergent to make detergent. The products that are for sale on store shelves are incredibly concentrated. This helps provide that strong fragrance and sudsing that we associate with cleanliness. Clothes get just as clean with no mountain lilac scent and without mounds of bubbles. As an added bonus to saving money, my clothes stay fresh and bright in hard (well) water.

Arm and Hammer is completely biodegradable and safe for septic systems, but any powdered detergent will work. Borax is sold in the detergent isles, and it is necessary. It works as a color safe bleach, but is gentle enough that my grandmother told me to use it for my son's diapers. I don't know of an equivalent. A generic brand of Ivory works, but it tends to be one of the cheaper soaps in grocery stores, so I have never bothered.

What You Do:

1. Shred Ivory soap over medium sized pan. Pour six cups water in pan, simmer the mixture until soap boils. (This is when you can do the other steps.)

2. Pour three gallons hot tap water in the bucket.

3. Add one cup Arm and Hammer detergent to bucket. Stir until dissolved.

4. Add 1/2 cup Borax to bucket, and stir until dissolved.

5. Add soapy water to mixture, stir until blended. It will look like cloudy water.

6. Cover, and let gel at room temperature for 10-12 hours.

Cleaning up is the easiest part. Just rinse everything off, as there was soap there already.

To Use:

Add once measuring cup of soap to every wash load. The soap will not bubble like you are used to, but your clothes will be just as clean.