Step-by-Step Homemade Laundry Soap Instructions

When I posted the recipe for homemade laundry soap a few weeks ago, many of you were interested but felt it might be too complicated to do. To prove to you all how easy it is (and in honor of Mother's Day) my mom generously offered to demonstrate the process for everyone. Thanks goes to Nana, a fellow Hectic Domestic, who uses this soap exclusively and does her laundry for only 2 cents a load!

These are the ingredients we need:

1 bar Fels-Naptha soap (If you can't find this, homemade bar soap will do)

1 cup Arm and Hammer washing soda

1/2 cup Borax

Step One: Grate the bar soap to a fine crumble. The smaller, the better. 

Step Three: Add 4 cups of water

Step Four: Heat on medium, stirring until melted

Step Five: Add to a 5 gallon bucket with remaining ingredients and stir until dissolved

Step Six: Fill Bucket 1/2 full with water and stir again (Nana tip: Add a squirt of Dawn dish soap to mix for grease fighting power!)

Step Seven: Fill Almost full and stir again. Let sit overnight.

Stir well and bottle it up! You may dilute with water as much as you want, up to half/half.  Use a regular cap-full of soap for each load.

Best Handmade Laundry Soap

Laundry soap seems to take up a big portion of my grocery budget. Since my budget is getting smaller and prices are getting higher, the women in my family have started making our own laundry soap. After trying out several different recipes, we all agree that the one used by the Duggar family is the best.

Laundry Soap

Grate 1 bar Fels Naptha Soap into 4 cups hot water

Boil in old pan, stirring until melted

Add mixture to a 5 gallon bucketAdd 1 cup washing soda

and 1/2 cup borax                                                     

Stir until dissolved and fill 1/2 full of water, stir                                                    

Fill the rest of the way, put on lid and let sit overnight.