Laundry Detergent Recipe - Gain Scent (optional)

Funny how things run in cycles. I started making my own laundry detergent a little over a year ago. I also started catching grief from my friends over my "Martha Stewart" ways. Now some of those same friends are giving the homemade stuff a try. Go figure!

There are zillions of recipes out there, I mean really, ZILLIONS. Who has time to figure out what works? So, I figured I'd post what works for me and you guys can copy, tweak or ignore as you see fit :)

Hardware:
Medium sauce pan - I have a cheap on I bought JUST for soap making
Fine grater - I have one JUST for soap grating
Wire whisk - I have one JUST for soap making
Five gallon bucket - I have one JUST for soap making
Do you see a pattern here? Who wants to risk having soap residue in their next cooking project. Yuck.

Software:
1 bar of soap
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
Hot water
Small bottle liquid Gain detergent (optional)

Instructions:

• Grate your bar of soap, the finer the shavings the easier it melts.
• Fill your sauce pan with about 6-8 cups of water and heat over medium high heat. Amount of water doesn't really matter, but you want enough liquid to dissolve all of your soaps.
• Add the grated soap and whisk until completely dissolved
• Add the Borax and whisk until completely dissolved
• Add the washing Soda and whisk until completely dissolved
• remove from heat
• Put approx one gallon of hot tap water into your 5 gallon bucket
• Add your hot soap mixture and whisk to incorporate
• Fill the bucket with warm tap water - if using the optional liquid detergent, only fill it 3/4 of the way, then add the detergent, whisk together then top off with warm water.
• cover the bucket and set aside for about 24 hours, at least overnight
• pour into containers for storage
• Use 1/2 cup per load

Note - this recipe makes at least 4 gallons and up to 5. You decide how much water to add based on the concentration you want. I have made this both with and without the Gain. If you do not use it your detergent will be a little bit goopy and have some little floaties in it. This is not a problem and will still work great, just give the jug a shake before use. If you choose to use the extra Gain detergent the consistency of the final batch is like water.

If you choose not to use the Gain then discover that you don't like the consistency of your detergent without it after the fact, you can add the Gain later. It will still break down the floaties and give you a loose, water like consistency. Just pour all your detergent back into the bucket, add your Gain and stir. Let sit over night again and then pour back into containers.