Making Liquid Laundry Detergent

I attended a laundry class a few months ago hosted by a friend who makes soap.  The class sounds silly, but it felt like I was re-connecting with my roots.  The class took place in a small boutique clothing store and a handful of women attended.  The instructed had her laundry products displayed on a large cutting table and stood under a row of spot lights.  We all sat on the edge of seat, listening with earnest as the teacher talked about laundry.  It made me think of the movie, "Calendar Girls" and the Women's Institute Chapter meetings.

I was absolutely stunned that I didn't know very much about laundry.  At the class, I learned about spin cycles, detergents, water temperature, sorting clothes properly, and how to make my own laundry detergent. I decided to finally make some homemade laundry detergent today!  When looking at the "ingredients" for the detergent, I was a bit skeptical that not much is used to make 1 gallon of detergent!  If this is all it takes, then WOW! I'll never spend big $$ on the phosphate free Seventh Generation, Mrs. Meyers, or BioKleen stuff!!

Recipe:
1 cup hot tap water
1.5 oz grated bar soap
1/4 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
2 T 20 Mule Team Borax
essential oils (optional)

Add soap flakes to saucepan with water.  Stir over med-low heat until melted.  Fill a 1 gallon jug half full with hot tap water.  Add melted soap, washing soda, and borax.  Stir well until all powder is dissolved.  Fill bucket to top with more hot water.  Stir, cover, and let sit overnight to thicken.  Shake before each use.  Optionally, add a few drops of essential oil.  Use 1 oz. per load in a front-loading washing machine.

Adapted from www.duggarfamily.com/recipes