Making Laundry Soap

One of the most frequent questions I get about having a large family, especially living in the SF Bay area is, "How can you afford it?" So I thought I'd share more of the things I've learned.

Today I made laundry soap. Here's how:

You will need Borax, bar soap (I use Kirk's Castile; we like it for bathing and laundry soap and order it by the case) and washing soda or baking soda (washing soda is supposed to be better, but baking soda works great).

Shred the soap.

Add the soap slowly to a quart of boiling water. Use a large pan as it foams a lot! Stir occasionally with a  beater until the soap is fully dissolved.

Meanwhile, add 1 C of baking soda and 1/2 C of Borax to several gallons hot water. I use a 5 gallon bucket and fill it nearly full. When the soap mixture is dissolved, add it to the bucket.

 That's it. After a few hours, the mixture will gel on the top few inches. It won't gel completely, so keep a beater on hand to mix it before use. I use about a 1/2 C for a full load.

All of this is very flexible. The five gallon bucket costs approximately $2. I've found that it works as well as the pricey name brands and much better than the discount versions.