DIY: Laundry soap edition

Things you will need are pictured: Super Washing Soda, a grater,
Fels Naptha, Borax, and a large container.  Optional is essential
oil or other type of scented oil.

What is Fels Naptha you ask?  I didn't know what it was either until
I started to make laundry soap.

Grate the entire bar.

It takes a while but keep going.  Oh and don't grate your fingers off.

Pour the grated bar of FN into your large container.

Add your super washing soda.

And your Borax

Stir them all around in your container.

Add your oil (or skip this step if you want unscented)

There you go!  Use 2 tablespoons per load.

Recipe:
1 bar of Fels Naptha, finely grated
6 cups of Super Washing Soda (NOT the same as baking soda)
6 cups of Borax
As much or as little essential oil as you want.

There are at least 10 bazillion recipes for homemade laundry soap give or take a bazillion.  This seems to be the mix that works for us with the caveat that I find that I need to pre-treat stains more often than with store-bought detergent.  You could also reference this website if you feel like trying the liquid version (too much work for me) or another blend of ingredients.  A few recipes I found online indicated you could also use Ivory bar soap instead of Fels Naptha if you have sensitive skin but we've never had a problem.  Yes, it's safe for your HE washers. 

Cost:
I don't remember specifically (surprise) but generally
Fels Naptha $1.25 ish
Borax: $2.99 ish a box and you use about 1/2 the box
Super Washing Soda: $2.50 ish a box and you use about 3/4 the box
=$4.87ish for a whole bunch of laundry soap.  Cost increases if you use essential oils.  I tend to watch for them to be on sale/clearance and stock up.  The one I used for this batch was a peppermint oil that I found on clearance for 99 cents.

Time to make:
About 15 minutes including my time to take pictures and yell at my kids to get out of the range of the picture.