Since I have loved my DIY Fabric softener found here I decided to scour the Internet looking for a fabulous DIY Laundry Soap. After viewing all the was involved with liquid laundry soap, I decided to make powered laundry soap. I have never even used powdered soap you buy at the store so I looked up my owners manual on my HE Frigidaire front loader to make sure I could even use the stuff, and yep, I sure can use powered soap, and I still put it in the same spot as the liquid stuff.
So now that I can use powered soap I had to find a recipe that I wanted to use. Most all the recipes are the same, all call for a bar of laundry soap, borax and washing soda. I had found a few that also added oxy clean and baking soda. I decided to use Zote Laundry Bar, Borax, Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, and Oxy Clean (to help with the dirtier clothes)
Recipe: ( I found all this at Meier)
1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the detergent isle ($3.99)
1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the detergent isle ($3.29)
1 small container of Oxyclean 1.3 lbs (20.8 0z) found in the detergent isle ($3.99)
1 bar Zote Laundry Bar (14 oz) ($.99)
1st I opened my Zote and cut it long way into about 4-5 pieces. I let this sit out over night to dry out a little because when I 1st went to grate it, it was very soft and clumped up. Then I grated it with the medium size holes on my block grater. It made 2 bowls full. Some people than put this in their food processor or magic bullet to grate up even more but I don't have either so I opted out on that. The pieces I have though aren't that big. This took the longest time, maybe 10-15 mins.
Than I took a cleaning bucket I had and lined it with a trash bag. Next you just pour all the ingredients in and mix up! Next time I will pour half of each item in, mix that up and than pour the rest in and mix it all up again. I found that it was difficult to make sure everything got mixed up together since its all white powder.
I than got some screw top plastic containers (2 in a pack for 1.00) at the dollar store and divided it all up. The oxy clean container is actually a really nice container that has a little scoop with it, so I am going to use that container to keep by my washer and I'm using the scoop as well. The 3 small containers I filled for 3 friends so they can try it to and let me know how they like it!
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All you need to use is 1 TBSP per load (2 if you have a larger load or extra dirty clothes). So on my oxyclean scoop i measured out 1 TBSP and 2 TBSP so i know how much to use each load. This makes (if im doing my math right! Its been a while since Ive been out of college!) about 165 ozs of soap. There are 2 TBSP per ounce so I should get about 330 loads of laundry if I do them all at 1 tbsp! This will be just great! For about $12.50 I will be able to do 330 loads of laundry! I could be saving almost $20-$30 each time I make this soap- Ya I can handle that!
This is a low sudsing soap so do not get nervous when you don't see any suds in your washer. Since it is low sudsing, that is why I feel safe in using it in my HE washer!
We have done a few loads so far and I am very happy with it. There really isn't a perfumed smell to it (we usually used a laundry soap with fragrance in it) but it smells really fresh!
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