Macari Family Liquid Laundry Detergent

Ingredients:

4  Cups hot tap water


1  Fels-Naptha soap bar


1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*


1 Cup Borax

Equipment:

1 Five Gallon Bucket w/ Lid

1 Large Sauce Pan or Pot

1 Liquid Measuring Cup

1 Dry Measuring Cup

1 Large Wooden Spoon or Spatula

1 Cheese Grater/ Knife/ Heavy Duty Food Processor

1 Electric Hand Mixer or Hand Blender

Instructions: 

- Grate, dice into tiny pieces, or shred bar of soap using food processor and add to saucepan with 4 cups water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

Note from experience: Make sure your soap pieces are chopped up really tiny or you will be trying to melt the soap chunks down for a LONG time! 

-Fill your 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add your melted soap water concoction, 1 cup Super Washing Soda and 1 cup Borax into the bucket. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to the top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

Note from experience: This stuff is gel like in consistency by morning time....

I mean really gel like.... Hahahaha....don't be scared, it will be OK after stirred/ mixed.

-You can try and stir, but I warn you, you will be exhausted in the end. So, you can either use a hand blender (I use and it works great), or you can use a hand mixer, or another bucket and dump it back and forth between the two to mix (great for kids to get some exercise and help mommy). This can get MESSY.

-Now, fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake well before each use. (will gel) Do NOT forget to fill your dispensers half full with water.

-After half filling 2 LARGE recycled fabric softener and detergent jugs, I STILL had way over half of my bucket left!!! YAY for DIY!

-Optional Yummy Smelling Add-in's: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Savings: Depending on how much you spent buying your ingredients, this will cost you a little over $2.00 for approx. 10 gallons of liquid laundry detergent!!!!! AMAZING!!!!!

-Storage: The left over soap can be stored in your bucket (lid closed) until you need to refill your jugs.

-Yields: Makes approx. 10 gallons after the water you add to your jugs.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" can be purchased in some stores (Ace Hardware or Walmart), or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com) or (at Amazon.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

•Works well in traditional or HE machines.

•Low sudsing. Remember ladies it is the ingredients in the soap, not the suds, that does the cleaning. If you are like me, this was hard adjusting to. I have always thought more bubbles and foam meant clean, Clean, CLEAN. I was wrong, so throw away your prior logic and reasoning about suds. Hahaha!

•Clumping and geling of the detergent is normal. Stir before putting in dispenser, and shake before each use.

•For stains, consider using an inexpensive spray-on stain remover before washing. (Zout, Spray 'n' Wash, Oxyclean). For my white and colored loads, I add powdered Oxyclean, and to keep my whites WHITE, I use Bleach.