Homemade (Liquid) Laundry Soap

Laundry Detergent is expensive...and I'm allergic to almost everything (Seriously...my list is like two pages long).

 So I decided to make my own!

I used this recipe from One Good Thing by Jillee (I can't say enough about how much I love her!)

So here's how it happened:

Step 1: Grating the soap
I used Dial, because I know I'm not allergic to it (Not sure what scent, i just sniffed until I found something I liked)

 Step 2 & 3:
Add water and melt the soap
Add the Borax and Washing Soda
Mix and mix and mix until it's all melted but DO NOT let it boil (bad things will happen!)

Step 4:

Ladle into separate containers until they're about 1/3 full

(as you can see I have a variety of bottle sizes, turns out I don't recommend any container with a small lid opening)

Step 5:

Add warm/hot water until they are roughly 2/3 full

Put the lids on the containers

Let them sit overnight (They need to coagulate)

The next day all of the "soap" will be at the top and the "water" will be at the bottom (I used quotes because it's all sort a mixed up soapy mess)

Which leads to Step 6:

Use a spoon or the end of a cooking utensil to break up the thick "soap" at the top into chunks

This is where I found out that I needed to use containers with wider mouths, it was very difficult to break the soap up through those tiny openings

Step 7:

Shake shake shake shake shake!!! It needs to be mixed up really well, so shake those bottles like you're pissed a the world!

Step 8:

Add more hot water until they're filled up to the top

Again: Shake Shake Shake Shake!

This is the point were I transfer the soap into an actual detergent container. It makes the soap easier to dispense and I can combine two of the smaller containers into one.

So in this great adventure, here are a few of my findings:

On the negative:

The scent doesn't transfer to the detergent very well
I made a HUGE mess while ladling and transferring
I had extra soap that I had no idea where to store
Mixing the water and soap to get the right consistency is tricky(this batch was super thin, I ended up using about 1 cup per load)
I find that I need to shake my mixture up before EVERY use
I'm finding some marks on my clothes that look like I've used powder detergent

On the positive:

It was super affordable

I'm not allergic!!

It does make my clothes very clean

It seems like there are more negatives that positives...but I'm going to chalk those up to being a learning experience.

I tried another batch using Fels-Naptha that was thicker (Almost too thick), and still had no smell. 

BUT I've found the solution!! Downy Unstoppables will make everything smell amazing, so I just add a small amount to each load and Poof! Magic! 

If you're wanting to try this, I wouldn't discourage you. I'll never go back to buying laundry detergent, it saves so much money, still makes your clothes clean, and is a fun project. 

Besides...I'm sure other people will have better luck than I did with this, I'm a newbie at making my own stuff, and I'm notorious for making silly mistakes when I'm trying new things.