Home Made Laundry Soap

A while back I saw an article about making your own laundry soap as a way to save money... which got me to thinking if it really worked.  So I googled laundry soap recipes (and there are a lot out there), did some experimenting and finally came up with my favorite combination.  I LOVE making my own laundry soap because it saves me so much money.  It is also very lightly scented which is great for my very sensitive pregnancy nose.  If you want too, you can add a few drops of essential oil in while you are processing the soap to give your laundry soap a custom scent.

For this recipe you will need:
1 1/4 cups Borax (you can find this in the laundry isle at most stores)
1 1/4 cups Baking Soda
1 bar Ivory Soap

Here is what everything looks like (it's so much easier to find it in the store when you know what you are looking for).  You can also use Arm & Hammer WASHING soda instead of baking soda.  From what I read they are different, washing soda is stronger (and a lot harder to find).  I've also heard that because it is stronger, washing soda can eventually eat away at your clothes and irritate your skin.  Because I have a toddler with sensitive skin I decided to use the baking soda and have had good luck with it.

The first thing you want to do it cut up the bar of ivory soap into chunks.  Then put it in a food processor or blender and process it until it looks like this.  At this point it will be sticky but when you add the other ingredients you will get a better consistency.  If you don't have a food processor or blender I have heard that you can just grate the soap with a cheese grater... but this still leaves the soap a little too chunky so it doesn't always dissolve well in cold water. 

Next you are going to add the Borax and the Baking Soda.  As you can see my food processor is a little full here.  I was trying to make two batches at once.  I do not recommend this :)  Process all of the ingredients on high until they are very well mixed.

When you are finished store in a closed container.  I keep mine a jar for now, but my jar is not big enough to hold a full batch so until I find a better container the rest of my laundry soap is in a gallon sized zip lock bag.  I hope my instructions are clear.  If you have any questions, please ask!