Chris prompted me to make this one because he read a few Reddit articles about cutting costs at home. This mixture is from DIY Natural. I'm writing this post now because I just had to make a new batch yesterday. I made the first batch over a year ago. It consists of the following ratio...
- 1 bar (or 4.5 ounces) of shaved bar soap (Dr. Bronner’s, Ivory, ZOTE, Fels-Naptha)
- 1 cup of borax
- 1 cup of washing soda
I use Fels-Naptha for the soap component. It has a clean laundry-like scent. My mom uses it for washing her hands and arms after working in the garden. She claims it's very gentle and will eliminate any trace of poison ivy or other irritant. It has the consistency of a thick bar of chocolate. The first batch I made, I grated it as they suggested, and it took a little longer than I would have hoped. My mother-in-law said she tried it, and used her spice grinder instead of grating. So much easier! I used my Cuisinart food processor to grind it into a homogeneous powder.
After that, all you need is a tablespoon for each regular sized load (shown above). Amazing, but true!