Homemade Laundry Soap

Have you ever gotten discouraged at the price of laundry soap and how much you have to use? I do. Plus I have very sensitive skin and have to make sure that the soap is rinsed out very well. I've been using white vinegar in the rinse cycle for years. It help get the extra soap out and keeps things soft. If you are worried about the smell of vinegar, don't. Vinegar is a natural deodoraizer and when it dries, the smell goes away. I love using vinegar in the washing machine. You can use cider vinegar which is cheaper and softens more, but I put mine in the automatic fabric softener dispenser in my machine and when I used cider vinegar, after a time it got the dispenser all yucky looking. Didn't hurt my machine any, I just didn't like the way it looked. I'm a tad OCD, by the way!

The other day I was browsing Pinterest.(Yes, I'm addicted to that site!!) Someone posted a link to making your own laundry soap. It was a liquid. Sounded good, but I wanted a powder, so I looked and searched for it until I found one that sounded good and got great reviews.

http://littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/2008/07/homemade-laundry-and-cleaning-products.html Has a nice powdered laundry soap recipe that I used.

I used Fels Naptha as my shaved soap. My house smelled wonderful after I shredded this!!
I made:
2 bars of Fels Naptha, shredded
2 cups of super washing soda (arm & hammer)
2 cups of borax

And mixed all together. I didn't grind my soap any further than that, and it doesn't seem to matter.
I use about 2 TBSP per load, 3 if super dirty shop clothes of my hubbies. I put it in when I first start the washer and dilute it in hot water. About 2 gallons of water. Then I turn water to cold and start adding my clothes. My clothes come out clean and smell so good! Since I don't watch my clothes wash to see the suds, the no sudsing thing doesn't bother me. And actually, I prefer it anyway. We don't need the suds. Wen anyone? (That's my favorite no poo of choice, though it is rather expensive!)

I stored my soap in an old ice cream bucket. (I use those for everything....soap, cookies, freezing large quantities of premade foods, etc) My girls even like using it to wash their clothes! They love the smell too:)

Just an FYI...I found all the supplies I needed to make this at Walmart. The other stores here didn't carry anything but the Borax.

UPDATE: I really like the powdered detergent! However I did make the liquid, it was so thick that I made it into 3 gallons. I LOVE the liquid detergent as well! 

I highly recommend trying them!