Home Made Laundry Detergent

Ok this turned out to be some project. Once it is accomplished it is well worth it. Do not think that any thing we do to become more green it so easy. It takes work and determination. I did a lot of studying prior to taking on this task and still have to use the soap to make sure it is good with our system, skin and life style.

Here are some of the things I found to be important prior to making this concoction is please be
careful of the fumes. Just because it is natural does not mean it is not dangerous. I wore a surgical mask over my mouth and nose because when I made my first batch of home made washing soda the dust and fumes when pouring from the pan to the container did get to me.

When I made my first batch and let it cool it was gel just like they told me but it had a layer of what looked like bar soap on the top. I had to re-heat it and add additional water to get it to the consistency it needed to be. And it still comes out a bit solid. Progress not perfection!

I did my research on a few different sites. Here they are with the comments that I feel need to be added. One site I did really enjoy was on About.com this site was where I learned how to make my own

 Washing Soda out of baking soda I really liked that idea and it worked. There recipe differed from the next one by a half of a cup on the powder ingredients and this seemed to pose a problem in this small yet curious head of mine. The next site I went to was talking about powder detergent but it was the same recipe but not cooked. I kept thinking that pieces of the soap would get stuck and be left on the clothes.          So cook it I say!

Three thing you need to make the soap

1 bar of Fels-Naptha  or Zote  soap
(I used the Zote the research was great)
1 cup of Washing Soda
1 cup of Borax
1 gallon plus one quart of water

To wash clothes use a half of a cup per load

Zote Soap

Grating the Zote

Alright the day came ...dun dun dun...It was time to make the Detergent. I was so excited. I took my bowl and grater and sat on the couch and grated the whole bar of Zote soap. It smells so fresh. I felt a closeness to my higher power!

Alright next I went to cook the Zoat in the quart of water. This took a long time. I took me a bout 30 minutes of slow stirring.






Next I stirred in my gallon of water, washing soda and my Borax. Call me woosie but the fumes made me cough! Ok I let this simmer for another 20 minutes stirring to make sure it all dissolved. Right now I took it and poured it into a glass container.





I poured it through a strainer to make sure all the pieces were melted and if they were not they would not get in. Ok I cover it and let it sit.