A DIY Laundry Soap Review

My sister came for spring break and we got into all kinds of fun, but one of my favorite projects that we worked on was DIY Laundry Soap. We tried 3 different recipes.

Here's how the first batch turned out. I found the glass container at Walmart for a little over $7. It holds almost exactly a half recipe. They also sell a larger jar that would hold a full recipe for a little under $12. My sister and I were splitting it to try so we went with the smaller size. I was able to find all of these ingredients between the laundry and baking isles at Walmart. Here's the basic recipe:

1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax
1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 (3 lb) Container of OxyClean

3 (5.5) Bars of Fels Naptha
1 (4 lb) Box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

Use 4 TBL of soap per load of laundry

The hardest part of making your own laundry soap is grating the Fels-Naptha, What a pain! I have seen that some people put theirs in a food processor or blender, but I was afraid of gumming mine up or ending up with food that tasted like soap, so I used a hand grater. Other than that all you need to do is get a tub and mix up all your ingredients. It's helpful to layer your products just like you would a lasagna, placing 1/3 of each of your ingredients and then layering it all over again for a total of 3 times. I was lucky enough to have this little cutie to help me out!

Voila all done! Just place in your container of choice!

The yellow of the Fels-Naptha is beautiful, but the scent was just a little strong. I also wanted to add a pleasant scent to the mix, So I replaced the Fels-Naptha with Pink Zote Soap (found at my local grocery store, Smith's) and tried some of Scentsy's Laundry Whiffs. (I used Quiver, but I have since learned that I prefer White Tea and Cactus or Luna.) Click here to explore the world of Scentsy :-) you will love it! They run about $12 a bottle or $30 a tub. (OUCH!) The laundry whiffs are purely optional, but smell divine. My sister and I just wanted to tip our heads into the laundry machine!

1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax
1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 (3 lb) Container of OxyClean

2 (14.1) Zote soap
1 (4 lb) Box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
1/2 Tub or 2 bottles of your favorite Scentsy Laundry Whiffs

Use 4 TBL of soap per load of laundry

The other option most people use instead of Fels-Naptha or Pink Zote Soap is Ivory, but I read somewhere that you could use another soap of your choice. My very favorite happens to be OLAY, so I gambled and made another batch using some OLAY. This actually ended up being my very favorite batch. I also swapped out the more expensive Laundry Whiffs for some Gain Moonlight Breeze scent booster. Although I should be clear that the scent boosters are just that, they are not necessary to the recipe. Feel free to use what ever Scent booster you like best.

1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax
1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 (3 lb) Container of OxyClean

3 (4 oz) OLAY soap bars
1 (4 lb) Box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
2 (13.2 oz) Containers of Gain fireworks scent boosters

Use 4 TBL of soap per load of laundry

Considering both the price and the smell, the last batch, the one that used the gain scent booster was my favorite. Although most recipes had you put the scent booster straight into the mix, I have learned that I prefer to add it per load. Also if price were not a factor at all, I would totally use the Scentsy Laundry Whiffs every time. They are simply heavenly!

Hope you ENJOY!
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