Tuesday, February 21, 2012

DIY Laundry Soap


Hows that for a creative title?? I know...I'm just awesome like that.
So my smarty-pants sister called me up the other day and told me about this fantastic laundry soap she made. It smells soooo good and works like a charm for less than 5 cents a load i was told. Um...hello?! I need this in my life!! And then, like awesome things usually do, DIY laundry soap started popping up all over pinterest, in girl chats, in my dreams, on TV, ...ok not really on TV but just about everywhere else. I decided to give it a try. And surprisingly I didn't feel at all like a pioneer or one of the characters on Little House On the Prairie like I thought I would...instead I felt sexy, modern, and incredibly smart. Ha. Try this stuff...its super easy, fast, and cheap. Oh, and it smells just as awesome as it works. WIN.

Here's how this amazingness is done. You need these 3 things- all of which can be found right next to each other in your regular ol grocery store. I bought mine at Winco. Total it equaled out to be about 6 bucks and you only use a little of the Borax and baking soda...so this will make like a lifetime worth of laundry soap. For around 6 bucks. Pinch yourself...this is real.

I hate fuzzy pictures too...here's to crappy cameras. I am open to camera fund donations...

 Freeze the bar of Fels-Naptha for a few hours so its nice and hard...this will make it much easier to work with. 
PS. This is so not my freezer...I borrowed it from a friend so ya'll wouldn't be jealous that your freezer isn't nice and organized and clean like mine...or something like that...

 Smash your frozen bar of Fels-naptha so it blends easier. If you have a super blender this step is unnecessary.


Turn the fels-naptha into powder. This stuff smells like a cotton field on a sunny day and who doesn't want to smell like that??

Measure 1 cup of Borax {notice the awesome things its going to do to your clothes!}

Measure 1 cup of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (not to be confused with baking soda! ;)

 Mix the 3 ingredients together and, that's right, your done. And its been like 3 minutes since you started making soap and you didn't break a sweat. Amazing right?!

And not to be shallow or anything, but doesn't my new little soap holder look so much better than that monster tub of laundry detergent?? Love space savers!

And the best part (besides it being easy, cheap, and affordable)? it only takes 1 tablespoon per load. 2 tablespoons if your kids pooped through 3 layers of clothes or your husband slid into home base to impress you. This stuff goes a long ways.

 So go put these 3 ingredients on your shopping list and make some!! You'll never go back to Tide. Or maybe you will...but I am seriously satisfied with mine. 

K. Peace out girl scouts.

7 comments:

JeNnA said...

Ok I love how you even make a laundry det. post HILARIOUS! I love how full YOUR freezer is. (I know its yours... whos freezer doesn't look like that) And I love that you call everyone call scouts, I don't know why it cracks me up but it does! Peace. Love!

Amy J said...

I JUST got back from Winco (only place I grocery shop) and bought all the stuff to make this. Can't wait to try it out!

Gretchen Willmore said...

Hahah Thanks Jenna!! And I'm still not going to admit that freezer is mine....just sayin.
Amy- I'm excited your giving it a chance..I hope its your new go to! And don't you just love the smell of that fels-naptha?! Yeah I totally wasn't blowing it out of proportion. Its divine.

Amy Legler said...

What I love about that is that its not in these huge buckets! I've had friends make the liquid kind and none of them want to store the 100000000000 gallons that it makes! I love just a little bit of powder, goes such a long ways!

Missy said...

I'm on my way to the store and I'm going to try this out! Thanks for sharing!

Kristine said...

Alright. I'm finally trying this. You better be right or I'm hunting you down! ha :)

Gretchen Willmore said...

Haha! I've been using it for months and it works great. I hope your satisfied! :)