By Pamela Rose Williams
For quite a few years I have been making my own laundry soap. I decided to do it for two reasons (1) You can’t beat the cost and (2) Since we have some allergies in our home it is great to know that there are no added perfumes or other allergens.
This recipe makes 2 Quarts (½ gallon) of laundry detergent.
How long does it take to make it?
Before you venture onto this project beware that you should plan to start it early in the day. The entire process takes between 3-4 hours however, most of this time is waiting for the soap to cool enough after you cook it so that it can be whipped before storing.
Here is a list of the things you will need for this project.
Supplies:
One 3-quart sauce pan for melting your bar soap
A hand grater or food processor to grate the bar soap
A wooden or plastic large stirring spoon
A one cup measuring cup
Two quart-sized mason jars – they can be large or small mouthed
Some fresh seals and rings for the mason jars
A blender to whip the soap after it has cooled
One 2 Quart (half gallon) air tight container to store finished product.
Ingredients for Laundry Soap:
- 1 Bar of Fels-Naptha (laundry bar and stain remover)
- 4 Cups of water
- 1 Cup of Borax detergent booster
- 1 Cup of Washing Soda (do not use regular baking soda)
The Process:
Begin by washing your mason jars and having them ready to fill. Set aside.
Put the 4 cups of water into your 3-quart sauce pan and place over medium low heat.
Grate the Fels Naptha with either your hand grater or your food processor. It will look sort of like cheese when it is grated. (I have recently begun using a food processor attachment to my Oster blender that works well for this.)
Add the grated Fels Naptha to the water and place on stove top over medium-low heat. Stir the mixture as it heats up. I found that this step seams to go faster on a gas range. Be patient it will melt – DO NOT do this on high heat or it will boil over. Believe me, you do not want to clean this stuff out of your burners. This is the voice of experience!
In the meantime, measure out 1 cup each of the Borax and Washing Soda and mix them together in a bowl. Set aside.
Once the Fels Naptha is completely melted and incorporated into the water remove it from the heat.
Slowly add your Borax/Soda mixture to the wet soap and stir it until the dry ingredients is completely dissolved. DO NOT do this over heat. You will know when it is dissolved because it will feel smooth with no grit or sandy texture.
Distribute the soap evenly between the two quart-sized mason jars.
Then add enough additional water to fill them just to the “shoulders” of the jar leaving about 1 ½” of headspace.
Wipe the rims of the jars and then place a clean seal and band on each jar. Hand tighten and turn the jars upside down on a cooling rack.
Allow the soap to set for 3 hours. When it sets it will separate. You can also leave the soap overnight before whipping it but your end product will be grainier than if you do it same day.
After your 3 hours, if you have used standard size mason jars (not wide mouth) you may elect to screw your blender blade onto the jar and then whip it that way. I prefer to use wide mouth jars and so I just put the contents into my blender pitcher and whip it that way.
Whip it until it looks like mayonnaise or marshmallow cream. Repeat the process for your 2nd jar.
Store in a 2 quart (half gallon) air tight container. MAKE SURE YOU LABEL THE JAR and store out of the reach of children because it really IS NOT marshmallow cream!
Using Your New Laundry Soap
Top Load Machine: To use the soap, fill the machine with laundry, measure out 1 Tablespoon of laundry soap and place it on top of the laundry. Close the door and let the machine do its job.
Front-loader Machine: Do not put laundry soap into laundry dispenser, instead fill the machine with dirty laundry. Measure out one tablespoon of detergent and place the soap directly on top of laundry. Close the door and let the machine do its job.
Clean up hint: Be sure to clean up your supplies immediately after you use them. You will need to use very hot water and rinse well. If you let it set before cleaning it will dry hard and be difficult to clean. Again, been there, done that!
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