Laundry Soap Recipe

I've had a few people ask me for my laundry soap recipe, because, yes, I do make my own.  Why do I do this? Am I an over-the-top need to get rid of all the toxins in my house kind of person?  No, though I do like to reduce the number of chemicals my family is exposed to.  Do I like to inflict extra work on myself?  No, the process is a lot easier than most things I do.

bottom line________________I'm cheap, the soap is cheap and well, that's about it.  It works, it's easy on my family's sensitive skin and easy on the pocket book! (and it works in he machines).

first thing you may have to do is collect some appropriate size containers, you'll need a bunch to store it because this makes quite a bit.

Ingredients:
1 bar of Ivory Soap (or another pure soap that doesn't have a bunch of extras)
1/2 c Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (funny story - I looked in many city stores to find this and located it at none other than our own local store that stocks it regularly - yay for small towns!)
1/2 c Borax
(these are all pure, natural ingredients)

Method:
1.  Grate the soap (I use my cheese grater - it's really clean when I'm done! :))
2.  In a large pot heat 6 cups of water and the soap over medium heat until dissolved.
3.  Stir in Borax and A&H until dissolved
4.  Add 4 cups of HOT water, stir.
5.  At this point you can add essential oils or commercial detergent to the mix - I've used some lavender scented oil and I've also thrown whiteners or Oxyclean into the mix.  Totally an optional step.
6.  Add 1 gallon + 6 cups of COLD water.  Stir  (1 gallon = about 8 cups)
7.  Let set without stirring for 24 hours.
8.  It will have the consistency of liquid gel.  STIR it up with a wire whisk.
9.  Pour into jugs with tight lids. Shake it up before using to make sure it's mixed well, especially if it's been sitting for awhile. HE machines use about 1/4 cup per load.

**Apparently my sister's SIL uses this concoction minus all the water with her front-load machine.  I have to use only liquids in my machine so I haven't tried it but it would certainly take up alot less space.  You'd only need about a teaspoon per load.

BTW - I usually double this when I make it...cause we do an insane amount of laundry!  :)