Homemade Laundry Soap:

I'd been thinking about making my own laundry soap for SUCH a long time.  A few months ago my friend had a wee little baby girl. I had been reading things like this and this and this and for some reason the birth of her baby motivated me to finally try it out. I just couldn't imagine her tiny little baby being exposed to chemicals.  It took awhile to find the right recipe and all the ingredients, but it worked, and it was cheap, and it made a nice little addition to an all-natural baby basket for her. Since then, I've totally switched over and I'm so happy with this decision. It is absolutely shocking to me that basic household things, like laundry detergent, are filled with chemicals which harm us and our children. Maybe that sounds a bit dramatic, but do a bit of searching, and I honestly don't think you'd disagree with me.

Now, I am no expert. This recipe is just from some google searches. It works for me, but I know there are various combinations that people swear by. If you wish, try different quantities or use baking soda in place of the washing soda. I've read of people pouring vinegar in during the rinse cycle (but let's be honest, who really sits by their washing machine and waits for the rinse cycle? Um, not me.) Unfortunately, it's also not a great stain remover, but I'm working on figuring that out.  Anyways, what I'm saying is that this may not be your final answer to homemade soap but it is a really great start and I'm so happy that there are other people who want to give it a try.

This is all you need:

1 cup of Washing Soda
1 cup of Borax
1 bar of natural soap
An old grater
A few drops of essential oil (optional)

I found Washing Soda and Borax for approximately $5 per box at Superstore. As you can see, they are huge boxes and will last a very long time ( I began about 5 months ago and I've used maybe half a box of each). The natural soap took me a while to find, for some reason, but I finally came across it at Planet Organic, for a mere $1.69. I chose ginseng, but it doesn't matter too much. The soapy scent will smell strong at first, but your clothes will simply have a clean, fresh smell. If you prefer a scent to your laundry ( like I do!) simply pour a couple drops of essential oil ( this is ylang and orange blossom and patchouli) in with the water as its running. Don't try to pour it in after or you may end up with some oil stains on your clothes! (um, yeah. lesson learned).

Okay, so the process is very simple. very. Take 1 cup of washing soda, 1 cup of borax and pour it into a container. Then grate your bar of soap until it is all soap shavings. (Definitely use a different grater than you would use for your cheese as it will forever and always smell like soap from this point on).

Pour the soap shavings in with the mix of washing soda and borax. Tada. That's it. You have homemade laundry soap. Use 1-2 Tbsp per load.

I'd love to know if you try it, and if you have success with it. Or, if you tweak it and it's better, let me know about that, too. But for now, go do something more interesting than laundry.