making our own laundry soap

this is our second batch of our ‘home-made’ laundry soap, and i thought i would share how we do it. i came across this blog post early in the summer and figured i would give it a try. you can get all the supplies at walmart, except the washing soda. it was tricky to find, but after some online searches and phone calls, i discovered that ace hardware carries it. each of these big boxes was about $3-4 and each bar of zote soap is right at $1.

after collecting the supplies, the first step is to grate the soap. it’s not too tricky, but jenna didn’t last long. she insisted on helping even though the bar was to big to move with her little hands. adam even gave it a try. i could grate both bars, without help, in less than one episode of dora the explorer. for some reason, we didn’t finish it all in one day… hmmm… but i did remember to take pictures both times we were working on it.

now the only thing left to do is open the boxes and mix it up. i have a big bucket that use to have costco laundry detergent in it that holds this large batch. the recipe i found said to do three bars of zote, but i only use two, and a little extra oxi clean. again, it was tricky for the small people to stir, but they both still had to try.

and it’s done! i add about 1/2 cup to each wash. i have had great results with it, and you can’t beat the price… i don’t know what the price is, but i’m sure it WAY less than tide (that stuff, while smelling wonderful, cost a fortune!). maybe i should do some math…

i do still buy laundry detergent when it’s on great sales and i have coupons. it’s nice to alternate every so often.