Making Laundry Soap: Step-by-Step in Pictures!

If you are not familiar with this recipe you can click here  to read the recipe, what each ingredient is, tips on where to locate the harder to find items AND how much money you will save by doing this! 

A few things to explain:

In the following pictures my daughter Emily and I are making a double batch of soap, so there will be more volume from all the ingredients than if you were making a single batch.  Also I make my own soap instead of using the Fels Naptha, so my soap is white, not brown. 

Now let’s get started and make some laundry soap! 

First gather together the needed items.

Washing Soda and Borax:

A soap of some sort.  The picture below shows the soap I use to make mine which I make.  I now have this soap for sale in my Country Store for anyone who may be interested.

A bucket. When I make laundry soap I make a double batch and I use a saved Costco laundry detergent bucket from the last one I bought (over a year ago now!). :

And a pot of some sort to melt the soap/water in.

First begin by getting everything measured out ahead of time.  I find this makes it much easier.  

I start by grating my soap:

Then I measure out the washing soda and borax into a small bowl and setting it aside:

 I also pre-measure all the needed water.  You will need to have 4 cups of hot water to add to your soap as soon as you pour it into the bucket. I put those 4 cups into a canning jar and put them in my microwave to heat while I start the rest of the process.

I mix the grated soap with the water:

Leave this on a medium burner and stir now and again until the soap melts:

Then remove from the heat and add the washing soda and borax:

Stir until all is dissolved:

Pour this mixture into your bucket:

Add those 4 cups of hot water:

Now add the remaining water.  I saved a few gallon jugs for this purpose.  I can have the jugs filled with water and waiting to be poured into the bucket.  The recipe calls for a gallon of water, plus 6 cups.. I have those 6 cups also measured out and then pour them into the bucket:

Stir and let it sit until the next day:

It should turn into a water/gel type mixture.  If it does not gel up for you, you can still use it.  Next time add a little more soap (like half the bar of Fels Naptha) and see if that helps. 

I was going to take a picture of the finished product, but because I use my own homemade soap (which is white).. mine looked like a white watery/gel inside a white bucket..  So the picture just looked white!!    

Original at: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com:80/laundrysoap2.htm