Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Kitchen Science

Last night I was the mad scientist in my kitchen as I mixed and brewed my first batch of homemade laundry soap. My house smelled like the 50's with me standing there hand shredding my bar of Fels Naptha. It's currently sitting in my laundry area in a covered bucket until this evening when I need to stir it up and see how it worked.

This is the recipe I used:
1/3 of a bar of Fels Naptha shredded
1/2 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax

I used a small cheese grater and shredded a 1/3 of the bar of Fels Naptha into pot with 6 cups of boiling water. Stir until all the soap is melted, so it really helps to shred it as fine as you can and avoid big clumps. Add the washing soda and Borax and keep stirring until it's all melted and a thick liquid. Pour into your bucket with 4 cups of hot tap water and keep stirring. Add another 6 cups of water, and finally add a gallon of water.

I am supposed to let it sit overnight and use about 1/2 cup per load.

I didn't add any "scent" to it, but I've read that you can add a few drops of essential oils.

I spent less than $10 on all the ingredients to make this, and I'll see how many loads I get out of it and figure out if it's cheaper than buy my favorite liquid from Sam's Club (All Free and Clear).

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