laundry soap recipe

One of the greatest parts of our homeschool cooperative, for me, is the time that I get each week to visit with like-minded moms and pick their brains on topics ranging from dinner recipes to landscaping to homeopathic remedies. Each week, as our children are participating in dance class, tumbling class, guitar class, piano class, 4H, Girl Scouts or art class, we moms have the opportunity to gather around a table and share ideas and prayer requests with each other. It is for this reason that I look forward to co-op days as much as my kids do.

Today was no exception. I had a great time sharing with Deanna and Vicki and I promised them that I would post my dry laundry soap recipe for them. I've been experimenting for a year and half on a recipe for laundry soap. I originally looked for a laundry soap recipe to save money. However, I found out that Emme's sensitive skin cleared up when I switched from commercial laundry soap to homemade.

When we were working hard to get out of debt, I started praying that God would show me new ways to make things at home and to save money. I soon learned that making things at home cost less money but more time. It's taken me a while to realize that my time is of value, especially considering I haven't figured out how to add more hours to my day. For me, somethings are worth the time it costs to make it and other things are not. Because we not only save money but Emme's skin is doing better, homemade laundry soap is definitely worth my time!

About a year ago, I had figured out the cost of making my laundry soap. I haven't looked at current prices and recalculated it. I would guess that one batch would cost around $2. A batch lasts approximately 10 days at my house and so I spend less than $8 a month on laundry soap. I now quadruple this recipe and make one month's worth at a time and it takes roughly 15 min of my time to do so. I have figured that I used to spend about $20 a month on laundry soap and so that 15 minutes has saved us about $12!

I used this recipe in my 17 year old Maytag washer. It doesn't suds and so I think you could use it in a front load HE machine but I don't know for sure. If someone tries it and it works, would you please let me know?

Powder Laundry Soap Recipe

1/2 bar of any soap (I use Dial or Ivory) processed in my food processor until finely grated

1 c. washing soda--NOT baking soda (I find this in the laundry section of my Kroger but not at Walmart)

1 c. Borax powder

1 c. oxygen cleaner (I use the off brand of Oxyclean)

Combine well and store in airtight container. Use a Tablespoon per load.

**so far, the oxygen cleaner in it catches most of my stains. On a really soiled load I will use a little more laundry soap and add a little more oxygen cleaner.