Laundy Soap!

Since we are spending the week re-doing the laundry room I thought I would let you in on our Laundry Soap secrets. We either use Mrs. Myers Lavender detergent, it fantastic. But very pricey.
So to save money I tried my hand at making our own. I found the recipe online and as long as you dissolve the soap in the washer before you add the clothes it works really well. I know that laundry is not suppose to have that fabulous smell that store bought detergent have but truthfully I miss it a little. Although I would gladly trade it in for a more natural, better for you, not to mention way cheaper alternative. So here it is:
2 cups grated bar soap
1cup borax
1cup washing soda
First Grate you soap, we use a cheap dollar store cheese grater, I didn't want to use the one we already have in case it made cheese taste like soap after. Use the small side of the grater, the big grater teeth make soap chunks too large and have a hard time dissolving in the washing machine. You want your soap bits to be as small as possible.

I have tried a few different types of bar soap here's what I've found: Ivory is terrible for laundry soap, don't use it. Zote works well and gives the soap a cute pink tinge. Fels Naptha works well also, and Sunlight bar soap (found in the laundry detergent aisle) works really well.
So grate up two cups worth into a container.
Next add your cup of washing soda, it's pretty easy to find. Arm and Hammer makes a washing soda. Then add your cup of borax.

I usually double up the recipe just because. :)
The last step do your laundry, the recipe says add two tablespoons to each load, I add three because I'd imagine two tbsp for a medium size load but our laundry loads are huge so I use three.

Some people make liquid laundry detergent  using the same recipe. Just add 2 gallons of boiling water to a bucket, hopefully bigger then 2 gallons, and you have liquid laundry detergent.
I read about using pure castile soap so I think that will be the next soap I try. I'm thinking of using Dr. Brommers Peppermint castile soap. We already use the liquid almond scented soap in our bathroom and love it!!! If you've never tried it run to Target now and buy a bottle, you won't regret it!!!