The Homemade Series: Laundry Soap

There is so much satisfaction in making something from scratch;

whether it's a pie crust or homemade laundry soap!

I get together with a friend to do these projects; somehow, it isn't as daunting

and it's a whole lot of fun!

We tackled homemade shampoo the first time,

and this time, we decided to try making laundry soap. 

We found all the ingredients at Walmart, except the essential oils. Since we were splitting it between the two of us, we made 4 times the amounts shown on the following recipe.

// Homemade Laundry Soap //

3 cups Borax

3 cups washing soda 

(note the box; it looks similar to the baking soda but is labeled differently)

3 cups baking soda

1 bar Fels-Naptha soap

1 bar castile soap

1 1/2 cups Zote soap

30 drops essential oils

My friend did all the shopping [see why I like this?!] and bought some cheap graters to use for grating the soap. This step takes the most time!

But it's good for the biceps, and it makes you feel a little like a pioneer woman. 

The Zote soap came in flakes, which meant less grating. 

Get those if possible; who needs nice biceps?!

[Note to self: Let your toddler photo bomb - messy hair, fake jewelry and all; it makes wonderful memories!]

Mix the dry ingredients together, and then add the shaved soap.

Stir everything together in a large bowl. 

If you want a finer consistency, put it in your food processor or blend it for a little.

Add your essential oils last!

We used a combination of orange and lavender oils. It would be fun to try experimenting 

with different scents! 

30 drops seemed like a lot, because it smelled heavenly with about 20.

But we agreed that it would have been best to use the full amount.

You can't go wrong with essential oils!

Add 2-3 scoops of soap to your laundry, depending on size of load.

I use a baby formula scoop, which is about 1.5 tablespoons.

With a soap that has a scent like this one,

 doing the laundry might become your favorite job after all!