Thursday 5th June 2014

We are still in Butte, Montana.  We are still getting ready for the trip up north.  I am almost out of laundry soap so thought I better replenish the stockpile.  I have been using this “recipe” for the last several years that my good friend Calleen gave me.

I bought 1 box Borax, 2 boxes of Washing Soda, 11 bars of Fels Naptha soap.  The last batch I bought cost $20.50 and lasted almost 7 months which is less than $3 a month.  My washing machine is an apartment size front loader.  It takes 1 tablespoon of soap to do a full load.  During our stay in Colorado my washing machine got a really good workout as I did the lads laundry as a special mom treat.

The basic recipe is 1 bar of soap, 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of washing soda. I chop the soap into cubes and drop into the blender with the washing soda and borax.

A good whip round the blades to grate the bar soap finely and I have laundry soap.  If I could not find the Fels Naptha soap I have used ivory bar soap.  My home made soap is too expensive to use in laundry detergent.

1 tablespoon of detergent and ¼ cup vinegar for the rinse cycle and I have lovely clean, fresh laundry. You can’t smell the vinegar when the laundry comes out of the washer and it also does a nice job of softening the clothes.  As a bonus it keeps the drum clean from soap residue.

Into the little cupboard under the washer and now I’m set for the next few months.