Homemade laundry soap

Tonight we're making laundry soap -- liquid and powder. It's SO easy, and it works great!

Liquid:

• 2 gallons filtered water - Lynae tackles this for me. (Ear worm alert) The waiting is the hardest part.
• 1/3 bar fels naptha - Jon is my grater guy. He can get me a bowl of knuckle-free, grated soap in no time.
• 1/2 cup washing soda
• 1/2 cup borax - Actually, I use an additional 1/4 cup because our water is so hard. But if you don't have hard water, you'll want to use 1/2 cup.

Start by gently heating 6 cups of water and the grated fels naptha in a large pot on the stove, stirring occasionally until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and borax, stirring until that's all dissolved. Gently stir in the rest of the water (and fragrance oil or essential oil, if you want).

Because I have a special pot I use for soapmaking, I just leave it in the pot for 24 hours. A canning pot would work well, also. If you don't have a large pot you can spare, you can mix the soaps in a saucepan, then pour mixture in a large bucket before adding the rest of the water. Remember, this makes about 2 gallons. Either way, you want to let it set for 24 hours or so.

The laundry soap will turn to a fun, slimy gel. The gel breaks up easily with a whisk, an immersion blender, or your hand. If you want, you may use it directly from a bucket. I prefer to funnel it into gallon jugs. Before each use, I just give the jug a couple of shakes in case it's returned to a gel.

Use up to 1/2 cup per wash load.

This is a great way to save money! You can save even more if you use 1/2 cup vinegar in place of fabric softener.