Home-Made Liquid Laundry Soap

Ah, one of my favorite money-saving tricks! Making laundry soap at home. I got the recipe from the Duggar Family's website. (The 19 Kids and Counting family). This recipe makes 10 gallons of laundry soap and probably costs about $2.00 for that size of batch. It's also REALLY easy!! You need Borax, Fels-Naptha soap bar, water, and Arm & Hammer washing soda. The box of Borax is probably $3.00-4.00, same with the washing soda. The bar of soap is about $.50 each. Here's how to make it:

-Grate bar of soap and add to sauce pan with 4 cups water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full with hot tap water. Add melted soap, 1 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken. (I don't always wait over night for it to thicken, usually I pour it into the laundry soap containers and add water, then shake before each use).

-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. (Will gel).

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil. (I buy mine at Wal-Mart in the candle section. it's $2.00 per essential oil and they last forever).

-Top load machine - 5/8 cup per load (approximately 180 loads)

-Front load machine - 1/4 cup per load (approximately 640 loads)

**Baking soda will NOT work, nor will Arm & Hammer detergent. It must be Sodium Carbonate!

There it is in all it's glory. So simple, so wise. Smells great, cleans clothes very well. There's also a recipe on the Duggar Family's website www.duggarfamily.com for how to make fabric softener, which I have yet to try but looks awesome. Thanks for taking your time to read, I hope everybody tries this! Why not try?!