When DIY goes wrong...

and then right again! So earlier this year I shared a post in which I was going to try and accomplish 10 different crafts this year. The first of these was a laundry soap that I was pretty excited to try.  I actually first made this back in January but I wanted to try making it two different ways before posting so I would know what I am talking about lol  So without further adieu~

I'll start with the creamy mayonnaisy (totally a word) version of this soap.  First the directions, condensed version.

Ingredients:

1 bar Fels Naptha
1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
2 Quart size Ball Jars (or 2 quart size somethings to put this stuff into)







Grate, chop, or otherwise disintegrate the Fels Naptha bar.  You may be able to tell but I just chopped mine up into tiny pieces. Put 1/2 of the bar into each jar and fill halfway with boiling water.

Put these out of the way and forget about them for 24 hours.  Or a week.. you know, whatever works for you.  When you finally realize you have soap congealing on the back of your sink take a butter knife and slice that stuff into chunks. Add 1/2 cup borax and 1/2 cup washing soda to each jar. Then fill to the brim with water.

The Brim ;)  

The instructions said to take the blade off of your blender and attach it to your jars. Well my blender is old, and that didn't work. So I decided I would just add the stuff to the blender.. and this is where it got tricky. See I decided to be Miss Impatient and try to do it all at once. So I had two jars almost full of this stuff and I tried dump both into the blender and managed to get about 1 and 2/3 into the blender. But then I tried to blend.  haha.. no.  My blender was not having that. It looked like a volcano on the verge of erupting with stuff bubbling out everywhere. So I had to try and get at least half of my ingredients back out of the mixer.

See that? Don't do that!

After I finally sorted this mess out, mixed everything up, and poured it into jars I wound up with a little over two jars worth.  I'm pretty sure I did something wrong.. but hey, it still worked!

The directions recommended using one tablespoon per load of laundry, which I faithfully did. And this lasted me about two months before I had to make more. And when that came around I had found these instructions on how to make this a powdered laundry soap.  Basically do almost everything the same as you did it before, minus water.  

1) Grate the Fels Naptha bar, then switch out the attachment.

 2) Put the shredded bar back into the processor, add Borax and Washing Soda. Pulse till the bar is coarsely ground and all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Then I poured it into a jar and voila~  Laundry Soap.   

Now just because you guys are so great and read this far, I've also been using my own homemade fabric softener. I found the recipe on The Hippy Homemaker's blog. I love that site.  And my wonderful husband has had a box of rock salts sitting around forever.  Part of a long abandoned project. I can't tell you what it was, neither of us remember. So I spent $7 on essential oils (I found them on sale at Hobby Lobby) and now my laundry is the softest it has ever been. I kid you not. I love this stuff. Plus it smells divine, and it's even easier to make than the laundry soap.

Add one cup of Rock salts to whatever you'll be keeping them in. Add 20 drops each of your essential oils, I used Lemongrass and Lavender.  Shake well. Add 1 teaspoon to each load of laundry. That's it.  Easy peasy!

She adds it to her laundry soap, which would probably work great. I kept it separate because I wasn't sure how well it would work, I have been pleasantly surprised!

Now for your questions:

Does the laundry soap work?
Yes, it actually does, and very well. We're a messy family. Heck I need a bib to eat about half the time or I wear my food. And my boys are rough and tumble guys who work outside. One works with a utility crew so he digs a lot of ditches (think lots of mud on his clothes). And the other works with a grounds maintenance crew so his clothes have a lot of grass/dirt/anything flying around outside on them.  I haven't been disappointed even once while using this. If you like perfumy laundry soaps then this may not be for you. Or maybe there is a way to add fragrance. I dunno. I was already using unscented laundry detergent. And this is kinda like that. It comes out of the washer smelling... clean.  Does that make sense?

Is it worth it?

Totally. I was using All Mighty Pacs before trying this out and I had managed to make a bag of 48 last a month and a half. (Which was good).  But at $9.99 I was paying around $0.21 per load. With this soap I average about $0.07 per load.  And my clothes are clean and smell good.  Why wouldn't I keep using this?

Powdered or Mayonnaise blend?

Honestly for me. I am going powdered. There isn't a difference between the two as far as cleaning ability or smell.  For me it's all about ease of use. The powdered version is easier to make. I did it in about 15 minutes. And it's easier to use. At first the mayo blend isn't that bad. But when you get further down into the jar you either need a long spoon or you're gonna be a mess trying to get that out.  So the powdered works better for me as far as that goes.  

What about the fabric softener?

I love it. It gives our clothes a faint lavender/lemon scent and it really does soften them! I was pleasantly surprised by that fact.  

These two have now become staples at my house. I haven't bought washing powders/liquid or fabric softener in six months. And I don't plan on going back!