20 of 52 Weeks of Living Full!!

Hi all,

  Today I made a nice new batch of homemade liquid laundry soap.  I used the recipe from this site.

  The only thing I did differently is I chopped up the bar of Zote for a quicker melting process.  The soap is very soft, so not much elbow grease involved.

 I use an old pot that from a set that I no longer use for cooking.  I fill it half full, melt the Zote and then add the Borax and Washing Soda.

 I fill the 5 gallon bucket with cold water, and fully melted soap mixture, then fill the bucket up almost to the top with cold water.  I let it sit overnight, then transfer into a more manageable 1 gallon vinegar bottle saved for this very purpose.

  I absolutely love the smell of the Zote soap.  My husband and daughter are not so impressed with the smell while melting in the pot, but doesn't mind it once cooled and used in the washer.  I have found this recipe to do great with our clothes.  I do have to pre treat stains with a little applied straight on the stain and work in with some rubbing and cold water.

  I use 1/2 cup of soap per load.  This happens to be one scoop from a left over Oxi Clean container.  Here's the break down per load….

1 bar of Zote: $.97
2 cups of Washing Soda: $3.97 for 1 box  (55oz) = $1.15 per 2 cups
2 cups of Borax: $4.09 for 1 box (76oz) = $.86 per 2 cups

  So all total a 5 gallon batch costs $2.98 which equals just under $.02 a load.  Woo Hoo!!  Now that's what I call frugal!

  Now, to just figure out a way to hang my clothes outside in an unobtrusive manner….since we are still in a neighborhood….hmmmm…..

Happy Washing!

Jennifer