DIY Laundry Soap

    I have always been intrigued with those who buff up and make their own laundry detergent. It seems like such a hard thing to do, but so simple. So simple looking that I knew surely I would screw it up. We stopped using cloth diapers a few months ago because the cost to wash them was getting expensive. So we started using Seventh Generation diapers, and put the cloth diapers in the drawer. When money gets tight, the mind gets desperate. My mind kept going back to he homemade laundry soap that's safe for cloth diapers recipe I seen on a Facebook group I am part of. (I'll put the link below). Anyways, long story short - I finally took the plunge, and I will never look back. I don't know why I insist on doing so but I alter just about every single recipe food or otherwise to tweak and make it my own. This recipe is easy, cheap and so so so much better for your clothes. Let me know what you think.

This recipe is so easy, and simple because I opted out of all the crazy recipes I've found and stuck with the classic, cheap and easy way to make laundry soap. I've been using this soap for about a month now and let me tell you..I like it BETTER than All and Tide. We have an HE machine and it always smells weird when washing clothes and I felt like I was constantly washing it, moreso than washing laundry even. This soap leaves no residue, no odor and even leaves the machine smelling fresh. Like springtime..seriously. 

You'll need :

2 bars of Fels naptha $1.98 

1 box Arm and Hammer washing soda $3.35

1 box Borax $2.99

1 cup Oxy Clean (optional)

25 drops Lavender essential oil (optional) 

You can find all this in the detergent isle at Walmart, target, or most grocery stores. You can find essential oils by contacting me, and I will get you settled with those.

I used a simple method of grate the laundry bar and just added everything else into a large tub and mixed as well as I could. I added in the essential oils by dropping over the top, never in the same spot twice and mixed it a bit. It took me 10 minutes max to make this soap and I have used about 1/4 of the tub in over a month for a family of 5. The cost savings are really obvious and the cleaning capabilities are so much better. Even with a business degree I cannot fathom why big box companies charge so much! Their profit margins must be huge! 

You'll need 1 heaping tablespoon per load...you read that correctly - ONE tablespoon per load. This stuff lasts months! How can you go wrong? You can't. 

Anyways, I really love this detergent for a few reasons...

1) It's affordable. Let's face it, who wants to spend a weeks pay on laundry every month?

2) It smells awesome! I love how it cleans my machine at the same time as it's cleaning my clothes

3) We don't have to buy a separate detergent for the baby. That'd right, this stuff is better than Dreft. We had always spent so much on making sure he had a different, mild soap but it turns out that all the harsh chemicals and perfumes in Dreft weren't making his skin issues much better. This soap..which hath no name other than soap, does not break him out and I am able to wash his clothes with ours. 

4) Did I already say that it was cheap? Or that it works amazing? Or that it's cheap?

5) I love how long it lasts, how little you need per load, and how well it cleans

Let me know how you like it! 

Until next time...

Bea