Homemade Laundry Soap (rebatched)

I love making homemade laundry soap. My favorite *flavour* is lavender, but todays batch is pineapple cilantro, thanks to my friends over at Brambleberry Soaps.

I have been making homemade soap for over 13 years now. It is a passion of the heart.

I had a little business called Heavenly Sent; as God woke me up one night and told me to make soap. I had been asking Him for *something* for me, as I was looking for an outlet for my own mental health~apart from homeschooling and motherhood.

I hardly blog about it, but it is a part of *me.*

I am not much of a recipe follower (my friends are laughing, because this is an understatement). But I will happily walk you through it, in case you want to give it a try. The Internet has loads of recipes, Tipnut has 10 to offer you.

My very flexible recipe for homemade laundry soap:

Needs:

• A 2 gallon bucket (with lid preferable, but use plastic wrap if you need to)
• water
• 1 bar of soap (Ivory, Fels Naptha, whatever)
• 1/2 cup of Borax
• 1/2 cup of Washing Soda

(*Fels Naptha, Borax and Washing Soda are found in the Laundry aisle)

• essential oil or fragrant oil for scent
• (if you have skin sensitivities...you can forgo fragrance)
• large pot...(non aluminum)
• *plastic or wooden spoon that will be forever only used for soap making projects.

Okay, grate or chop your soap into wee little pieces.

Add grated/chopped soap to large pot. Add water to fill.

Heat on medium to melt soap.

Anytime now, add in your Borax and Washing Soda (I eyeball it...it is not fussy).

Stir occasionally to help it all get melted.

When you are totally melted, dump into clean 2 gallon bucket.

Now as it cools a bit, pour in a bit of your scent...a Tablespoon should be good

(less or a bit more is okay too).

Add more HOT water to the soap...how much? Well about full.

Stir.

Let rest overnight. It will gel together.

Occasionally you might need to stir it back together before scooping from it...but usually it stays gelled.

Use about a cup per load. But this too depends on your machine or your water (hard or soft).

*I am NOT recommending this for non-sudsing washers; as I don't own one and haven't tried it.

My batch was much bigger....and I didn't measure a thing.

I make it every couple of months and it continues to clean like nobodies business! It smells so yummy, that as I fold the laundry, I often stop to *whiff* the clean clothes.

Happy soapmaking!

some of my soap...not too pretty, so laundry soap it becomes!


yum!


one of my *littles* helping to cut...a butter knife if a handy helper!

melting

(*my container is a recycled pretzel container from Sam's Club.)
A lid is a good idea, as it keeps animals and kids safe!

Simple housekeeping

Tip of the day:

Homemade linen spray

You can also use this to freshen closets or drawers!

Collect:

*spray bottle (can recycle a Windex style bottle, just clean it well)

*essential oils (Brambleberry is where I buy most of mine)

(my favorites are lavender, bergamont or patchouli. I love to make my own blends, as I am a soap maker, I have tons of essential oils in a dark drawer in the barn.)

*2 ounces of isopropy alcohol (buy at the pharmacy/drug store)

*1-3 Tablespoons of essential oil (depending on you preference.)

*2 ounces distilled water (you can buy it, or recycle it from your dehumidifier)

Always test spray to make sure it won't harm your furniture finish.

Spritz and enjoy-breath deep, you did it!

Warning: Creating this can become addicting!

A trip to the barn to make soap!

Soap Making-a peak into my barn

Now I have been blogging for almost a year, and I have yet to blog about making soap, for me this is hard to believe, as it is a huge passion for me. I began making soap 9 years ago and it has been a love-LOVE ever since.

My soap making began one night when the Holy Spirit woke me up, I had been praying for an 'outlet' for me. Something I could do that wasn't related to my being a mom/homeschool teacher/wife ...that I was 24/7. Something that could be for my pleasure, something that I could be passionate about.

Yup, soap. When the Holy Spirit spoke it to me in the middle of the night, I questioned what kind of lead was this? Do people make soap I said? I began a quest to answer that question and after a 6 month search, came up with they do and here's what you need.

For a while I had a business, doing craft fairs and building up a client base. Things changed with my soap making when Princess Sunshine (then 3, now 8) was added to our family through foster care. She had been abused and needed my full attention. God also pulled me out of my job outside the home (waitressing at night) to totally cover our sweet new girl.

I slowed down in my soap volume, but my passion is still there. I make each batch as the Spirit leads, each time a new adventure- a new surprise awaits at the unveiling of each new batch.

This time I made a patchouli-sweet fern and a cucumber, melon, bergamont soap. Hoping to spend some more time out in my soap barn, now that we have hit a groove with our size "6" family. Can't wait to see what 'we' will create next!