Clean Freak...

NOT!  That's right, a clean freak I am not!  But I love being frugal!  My friend Carla shared a link with me to make homemade laundry soap!  That's right!  LAUNDRY detergent!  It's quick, it's easy and OH SO AFFORDABLE!  That's the best part of all.

Considering we pay anywhere from $10-$15 per jug of Tide, it was a welcomed task of making 10 gallons of soap for the mere cost of less than $2.00!  Yep, you read that right....  and I don't know about you, but 10 gallons of laundry soap will last me quite some time.

What you'll need:

1  Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

• Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with 4 cups warm water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

• Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

We had lots of help in the kitchen.  And of course Gus always wants to be right in the middle of everything.  :)

My hubby with his Vanna White hands showing our finished product.  lol

And who in the world has anything big enough to cover a 5 gallon bucket?!  We just happened to have this bucket from watering the horses.  It's now a soap making bucket!

• Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)  This is how you end up with 10 gallons because you are watering it down yet again.  

Our finished product the next morning.

It's a good thing I tend to be a hoarder (and the kids never clean up the laundry room after themselves), because we had enough empty laundry soap jugs to fill (15 total!) to store all 10 gallons.  :)  We used a few fabric softener jugs but rinsed everything out before filling with the new soap.  Don't forget to shake it before each use!!!

• Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
• Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
• Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
• Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

My husband actually likes to help do things like this so he was the stirrer while I poured ingredients and 'supervised'.  ;)  lol  Move over Bill Nye the Science Guy!  

This would be a great project to do with the kids for a homeschool activity or 4H demonstration, etc.  VERY easy, but make sure you supervise.  You're still dealing with cleaning agents and don't want the kiddos to get anything in their eyes or ingest anything.  Because they might end up looking like my kid.....  

Okay, well, maybe it wasn't ingesting anything abnormal.  He's just a goofball!  :)  Time to put away the halloween costumes.  lol

Lots of fun and creative ideas coming in the next few days/weeks.  We're going to have lots of gift giving ideas and links to share.  I'm shopping with a cause and want to share fundraiser links, plus we're making homemade gifts.  Today we made bath salts!  Mmmmmm.....  Can't wait to share those!  Hope you all had a terrific weekend.