jackpot

so, i have been thinking about making my own laundry soap for a while. we have some cousins who started doing it and it caught my interest. i was all into it until my dear husband asked, "will you be moving to the prairie with them, too?" then i lost interest, kind of. last week i read this post  at soulemama.com and i decided right then and there that i was going to do it. i liked her recipe better (because i had all but one of the ingredients on hand and because it's scented...i'm a sucker for scented things). my favorite laundry soap costs $7.99 for a measly 32 ounces which just doesn't work with my budget so i knew i had to make a change. especially since i'm not a fan of all the other store-bought laundry soaps.

so here's the most exciting part. there's a plethora of  scents to choose from. it was actually hard to make a final selection. i had lavender in my hand then i smelled the baby scent which made me switch, then i smelled the peppermint and switched again and...so on and so forth...until i finally settled on the citrus orange which just smelled so clean. the soap was on sale and i'm tempted to go back and buy all my favorite scents. i can whip 'em all up to store for easy access and i can choose a scent according to my mood when i do laundry.

i think i hit the jackpot today!

you can try it out for yourself. you start with this:

2 c finely grated pure-castile soap (dr. bonner's is a great choice)
1 c borax
1 c baking soda
1 c washing soda

mix together and store in air-tight containers. this is what you get:

you actually end up with more than this but i left some out to use today. i am playing around with measurements but soulemama uses 1/8 c for each load. i have also heard that 1 c vinegar in the rinse cycle is a great fabric softener.