Homemade Laundry Soap

The Duggar Family has a TV show “20 and counting”, and on that show they gave details of their home made laundry detergent. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
4 cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar (We use Fels-Naptha bar soap but you can use Ivory, Sunlight, Kirk’s Hardwater Castile or Zote bars)
1 cup washing soda
½ cup Borax

Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

Fill a five-gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (It will gel.)

Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per two gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons. Top-load machine: 5/8 cup per load (approximately 180 loads). Front-load machine: ¼ cup per load (approx. 640 loads).

Powdered laundry detergent

Ingredients:
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 cup washing soda
½ cup Borax

Grate soap or break into pieces and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients. For light load, use one tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 tablespoons. Yields: three cups detergent (approximately 40 loads).

Benefits include no heavy perfumes, better for the environment then other commercial soaps, costs about $2 for the entire recipe, and will encourage the manufacturers to make similar competing product for the masses.