Laundry Soap

By jeaklor

Ingredients

• 1 bar bath soap (4 OZ), grated (your favorite brand, Ivory or whatever is cheap)
• 1 cup arm & hammer super washing soda laundry detergent (a laundry booster)
• 1/2 cup borax
• 3 Gal hot water

Details

Servings 3

Preparation

Step 1

You’ll also need a container of some sort to store this in (I use a five gallon bucket with a lid), something to stir it (I use a large wooden spoon), another pot to boil soapy water in, and something to cut up the soap.

First thing, put about four cups of water into the pan and put it on the stove on high until it’s at boiling, then lower the heat until it’s simmering.

While it’s heating up, take a bar of soap and Grate it.

When the water is boiling, start throwing in the soap. I recommend just doing a bit at a time, then stirring it until it’s dissolved.
Stir the soapy water with a spoon until all of the soap is dissolved. Eventually, the water will take on the color of the soap you added, albeit paler. I used Pure & Natural soap for this, which was a white soap that looked a lot like a bar of Ivory.

In the end, you’ll have some very warm soap soup:



Next, get out your large container and add three gallons of warm tap water to it. I’m using a bright orange five gallon bucket that I had lying around:



To this bucket add a cup of the washing soda and the soap solution you made and stir. The borax is optional – some people say that it’s too harsh, but I’ve always found that it did a good job getting clothes clean and fresh smelling, so I recommend adding a half cup of borax to the mix.

After stirring, you’ll have a bucket full of vaguely soapy water:




At this point, let the soap sit for 24 hours, preferably with a lid on it. I just took our bucket to the laundry room.

When you take off the lid, you’ll find any number of things, depending on the type of soap you used and the water you used. It might be firm, like Jello; it might be very watery; it might even be like liquid laundry detergent. Just stir it up a bit and it’s ready to be used.

If you cannot get Washing soda in your area, you can contact Arm and Hammer directly. I purchased 4 boxes with free shipping for less then 20$. Since you only need a cup, that will last me awhile. Here is the contact information:

Call toll-free at 1-800-524-1328
Monday - Friday from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM ET.

Church & Dwight Co., Inc.
469 N. Harrison St.
Princeton, NJ 08540