Finally Clean

We finally got around to making our own laundry detergent...yes laundry detergent! We had started accumulating the stuff but never got around to it, since we were still trying to finish up what we had left. This was super easy, who knew. A little messy, but fragrant.

To find out more information on this recipe, I used the recipe on Why Not Sew?

Stuff you need:

1 bar of soap
Any kind. We went with a neutral/refreshing smell that we liked, yes I stood in the aisle smelling bars of soap to figure out the contenders.

1 cup of Borax
We found this at a hardware store in the cleaners and soap aisle, but I think we ended up getting it at Whole Foods

1 cup of washing soda
Yeah, we couldn't find this/forgot we needed this. But we looked around online to see if anything could be substituted. Voila! We found a solution, bake baking soda in the oven turning its chemical make up to washing soda. Find it here on Nature's Nurture.

1 big pot
To contain two gallons of liquid.

1 grater
To grate your soap.

1 funnel
Helps to transfer your liquid into your container.

1 long spoon
Although I just used the grater that I was working with to melt off the rest of the soap.

2 empty gallon containers
Or what I did, re-used a former laundry detergent jug.

What to do:

Grate soap
I did it straight into my pot.

Add a gallon of water.
Dissolve soap. 

Add Borax and washing soda.

Boil and wait for coagulation.

Turn off heat and add the other gallon of water.

Pour into container using funnel.
It may become gelatin-like in your container, especially at first transfer. Shake well, and it goes away after it cures.

Do more loads of laundry.