living on one income
has always been
a bit of a challenge for our family
and i am always on the lookout
for ways to trim expenses
here and there and everywhere
trying to stretch every buck
as far as it will go
lately
i've been thinking a lot about
laundry soap
i know
blah blah blah
boring
but when i found this recipe
for liquid laundry soap
that makes 10 gallons at a time
i was intrigued
and after i priced out
what it would cost to make 10 gallons
of said soap
i was sold
to make
i bought one bar of Fels Naptha soap
for $0.97
one box of Arm & Hammer
Super Washing Soda for $3.97
and one box of Borax for $2.97
so the entire recipe
cost about $8
and when i make a new batch
my only expense will be
another bar of Fels Naptha
pretty cheap, eh?
to make:
grate the bar of Fels Naptha into a saucepan
filled with 4 cups of water
stir continually
until soap is completely melted
fill a clean, 5-gallon bucket
halfway with hot tap water
add melted soap
plus 1 cup of washing soda
and 1/2 cup of Borax
stir until powder is dissolved
fill bucket completely
with more hot water
cover and let sit overnight
to cool and thicken
in the morning
stir well (I used a mop handle)
and fill a clean laundry soap container
(or a rinsed out milk jug) half full of laundry soap
then fill the rest of the way with water
shake well before each use
as mixture will gel.
yield:
-top loaders- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-front loaders- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)
thus far
i've done about 6 loads of laundry
in my top loader
with excellent results
and if my math is correct
this laundry soap
will cost me about $0.04 per load
for the first batch
and $0.0053888888888889
per load for the next few batches
now i don't even know
if that's a real number
but i do know
that it equals
dirt cheap
and i'm good with that
{alison}
