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Homemade Laundry Soap
Making my own laundry soap was never on my radar of wanting to try. Then, I got caught up in a season of DIY and too many dirty clothes. I figured once I got started I might as well make some for our family too.
Our tradition of gift-giving is from the heart. Or in lay men’s terms, homemade. There are many beautiful things I would love to buy for my family and friends, however, my budget is tight. I hope teaching my boys to be creative and thoughtful with handmade items will show them the true value of a gift.
I have had the supplies to make my own laundry soap for about a year. I know, that kinda defeats the purpose of saving money by making your own if you just put it up in a closet! I kept getting good deals on the soap I use so I kept moving that experiment to the bottom of the list.
To push myself to give this a try I thought maybe we could give some away as gifts this year. Does laundry soap make a good gift? It could send the wrong message.
Well, we needed more science going on in our homeschool so I enlisted Grant to do the recipe.
I counted it as history and science. You can too.
Well, we needed more science going on in our homeschool so I enlisted Grant to do the recipe.
I counted it as history and science. You can too.
We took all the ingredients outside as to not worry about a mess. Like a little soap flake mixed in with the sand on my floor would make a difference!
Going outside brought out the curious hens. These two always have to have their beak in the action. Violet and Talulla, laundry soap makers.
Grating the soap seemed quite tedious and it took Cowboy awhile to get the amount needed for the recipe. Yet the hens were no help at all!
The recipe we used called for 5 gallons but I made half of that.
Our recipe was:
1/4 bar of grated Fels Naptha Soap
1/2 Cup of Borax
1/2 Cup of Washing Soda
We melted in a large stockpot with 2 cups of water. We added 2 gallons of hot tap water to that and stirred. We left it overnight, stirred and then poured it up into two-gallon leftover water jugs.
Mason jars, spaghetti sauce jars, and mayonnaise jars are great to fill up and give as a gift. Below I used a mayonnaise jar and a white plastic mason jar lid. I added a festive ribbon, a measuring cup from the dollar store for 1/3 cup, which was the measurement from my original recipe. The finishing touch was the chalkboard
hangtag. The perfect gift of practicality!
I think I would not mind trying a powder recipe instead of liquid. There are so many recipes out there, you can decide what works for you. I found two ladies who had simple recipes and a cute presentation.
How Does She?
And
Ask Anna Moseley
Both offer FREE printable gift tags!
