Back in October of 2012 I made my own laundry soap.  Apparently I put it all over my Instagram and Facebook, but I never blogged about it.  What is up with that? Lame!

Here I am to rectify this. Why? Because it only just ran out.  No kidding! Three years of laundry soap for less than $15? Yes, please. It’s all natural, easy on fabric and allergies, and I didn’t even need fabric softener! It is even fabulous for HE machines.

My biggest question is: How on earth did I not discover this before?

I just picked up the supplies today to make more because I recently had an emergency run on laundry washing apparently. Sorry this post was late, I actually didn’t get to the store until this afternoon.  Yeah I’m a sucker.

First, I went to Walmart.  I know you all know how  much I hate going there, but it’s the only place I knew with pre-shredded flakes.  Last time I made this, it was a huge pain in the neck shredding the Fels-Naptha. That stuff is rock hard and we cycled through shredding it.  At the time I didn’t have a food processor or blender. We thought we were going to die.  This is the only real reason to go to Walmart for these supplies because really you can get them anywhere if you are willing to shred your soap.

Supplies purchased:

1 Box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda – $3.97
1 Box Borax – $3.97
1 Box Shredded Zote – $2.64

That’s it.

Really.

You just need a couple of tablespoons, depending on how hard your water is to wash a standard size load of laundry.  (Less for softer water, more for harder water.)

Walmart total: $11.14 with Virginia tax of 5.3%.

I came home and grabbed my Tupperware “Thatsa Bowl” and a spoon to mix. I dumped in each box and stirred.

From there I transferred into my soap container.

The Fels-Naptha worked well last time, but I know Zote is the other recommended soap.  I’m excited to try this out and hope it works just as well because it means no grating!

An added benefit: Zote uses citronella oil which means that maybe my clothes will naturally repel bugs. I hate getting eaten alive by the biters out there. A girl can dream!

If you’re looking for a frugal way to save money, take better care of your clothes, and be a little more natural – this is a winner!

If you want more natural ways to help your laundry, I recommend dryer balls as well as a simple square of cotton doused with some essential oils like lavender.  These tricks will help dry better, fight static cling, and are far better than the chemicals. Did you know the chemicals in fabric softener make your clothes repel water? That’s super not helpful in the least for you wash rags/towels.

–Lady O