 |
| 1 cup of Borax, 1 cup of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, and 1 bar of Fels-Naptha. You can also use Zote, Dr. Bonner's, or Ivory Soap. I prefer the Fels-Naptha because I like the scent. |
If you aren't sure what the Borax and Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda looks like, here are pictures. You can find these products at Ace Hardware (that's where I get mine) or any other hardware store. I also get the Fels-Naptha from Ace.
The first thing you want to do is to grate your bar of soap. I prefer to use the grater attachment on my KitchenAid, but you can also grate the soap by hand. I grated mine by hand this time. Bonus: calories burned! ;)
This is how much one bar of soap is grated.
Next, pour in 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of Super Washing Soda.
Lastly, you need to stir it up really well so that the soap and the powders are mixed together. Then just put it in a container. You could put it in a tupperware container, a ziplock bag, or a glass jar. I put mine in a glass jar I had on hand.
You only need 1 Tablespoon per load, so this will actually last you for quite a while. I use 2 Tablespoons for tougher loads, like Adam's hockey clothes. Yuck! :) The amount in this recipe will probably last me about a month and a half to 2 months or so. Next time I make this, I will double the recipe so that it will last me longer. Better to get all that soap grating done at once! You can work out both arms! :) Haha. I hope you found this recipe helpful, and I hope it saves you money!
I had made a batch of this a while ago. I actually found all the ingredients at Walmart! I used a bigger size grater and it didn't mix as well as yours :(
ReplyDeleteAwesome, that's good to know that they have this stuff too! Mine doesn't always stay so well mixed, but as long as you scoop up a fairly equal amount of soap flakes and powder into each tablespoon, it probably doesn't matter too much.
ReplyDeleteI run mine through the food processor to make it extra fine.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea, Leanne. I made a double batch today. I shredded the soap with my attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer, and the soap was a lot more fine. Then I used the mixer to mix the soap together with the Borax and Washing Soda instead of mixing it by hand. It did a lot better job than I did.
ReplyDeletemy bar of ZOTE soap is 14.1 oz. how much of it will i need to shred to make my detergent?
ReplyDeleteMy Fels Naptha bar is 5 and 1/2 oz, and it makes one batch. So you could either just use about 1/3 of your bar and make one batch, or you could use the whole bar and make 3 batches at once, which is what I would do. So you would use the whole bar, 3 cups of Borax, and 3 cups of Super Washing Soda. Hope this helps! :)
Delete