Made Some Laundry Soap

So, I finally ran out of commercial laundry detergent and got to make some of my own with the recipe I posted a while back. According to my calculations, it cost me only 66 cents to make the 2 gallons of soap. Here's how I came to that.

At Walmart 1 box of 20 Mule Team Borax is $2.67 for a 76oz box (ok, yes I gave in and went to Hellmart, but Dave was watching the kids so I could get in and out quickly). 1/2 cup of the powder weighs 3.5 ozs which is about 21.715 1/2 cup portions. $2.67 divided by 21.715 is about $0.12.

At Tops 1 bar of Fels Naptha is $1.11, only 1/3 of which is needed for the recipe. $1.11 divided by 3 is $0.37. (Though Publix carries it for $0.99 I found out today)

At Publix 1 box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda is $2.29 for a 55 oz box. 1/2 cup weighs about 4.2ozs, so there are 13.095 1/2 cup portions in a box, and therefore $0.17 per 1/2 cup.

So there it is....$0.12 + $0.37 + $0.17 is $0.66 for 2 gallons of laundry detergent. WOW! Now let's just see if the detergent actually works.... I'll let you know, as I have a couple little boys clothes and diapers to wash tomorrow.

** A NEXT DAY NOTE.... this morning when I woke up I found that my soap had gel'ed quite a bit, much more than the described "egg-white" consistancy from the recipe. It was much more of a solid gel, which proved a problem in transferring it into my recycled laundry soap containers. I found an old paint stir stick and gave it a good stir and got the gel to break down a bit, enough to be able to transfer, but still quite clumpy. Here is the link to the recipe I used...
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm.
The cap from my old containers measured just over 1/2 cup (which is the recommended amt to use per load), so if I use just under a capful per load it should be a good measure of how much soap to use.