Making Laundry Soap. Take One!!

I have decided to finally try my hands at making my own laundry soap. Which there will be pictures of the steps and results up tomorrow. Since I need to have certain supplies to make such soap.
Supplies Needed:
1 bar of soap (any kind you want)
1 cup of Borax
1 cup of washing soda
a big pot ( that holds more than 2 gallons)
a grater
a funnel
a long spoon
2 empty gallon jugs/containers
I took a little trip to the store(s). 1st Big Lots, DI, then Walmart.
I started at Big Lots hoping to find the Pot and Grater for a low, low price. But I didn't find any of my supplies so far at Big Lot. One store down two to go. Next off to DI (Desert Industries - thrift store). I found a grater for a $1.00 (pats myself on back), but no used large pot. dang it. so my last store was walmart. where i found an 8qt stockpot $6.44, a wooden spoon $.88, funnel $.87, Zest (3 pack) $1.98, Washing soda $2.98 and Borax $2.12. a grand total of 17.22 after tax.
After this since I will already own the pot, spoon, funnel and grater. estimated cost is $6.00 for 576 loads (depending on soap used and amount used per load, One BOX of Borax and Washing soda)
The savings is incredible.
I will keep you all posted on the process tomorrow.


Well it's tomorrow now. So here we go. these 1st two shots are after i took the bar of soap and using my trusty grater, shredded the whole bar. then I placed it in my nice new shiny soap pot.



Once you put the soap flakes in the pot. You add 1 gallon of water and cook until the soap dissolves.


Now that your soap is dissolved. You add 1 cup Borax and 1 cup washing soda *aka baking soda


You will notice a nice bubbly froth. Turn the Heat up and stir occasionally until it bubbles.


I said til it bubbles not overflows and drowns your stove (like i just did). here are some fun photos of me making a soapy mess. It covered the entire cooktop and underneath. that's what i get for being a little impatient at waiting for the soap to bubble and ran back to work on my wreath entry. bad carrie. oh well.




after soaking up all the soapy water. My stovetop has never looked or smelled so clean. here is is after it's nice bath. It even got some new tinfoil on it's burners.(dont want to have to pay my apt complex $20.00 to replace those babies when i finally move out of here)


Ok so back to the laundry soap. I redid all the above steps (well except the stovetop bath) and when it bubbled this time it looked like this. So that's when you take it off the burner. Once off the burner add another gallon of water and then you can use a funnel and a cup to pour into your containers. I have been told it can take up to 24 hours to thicken. I will tell you more tomorrow when I try my first batch out. hooray