Herbal Laundry Soap Recipe
Making Herbal Laundry Soap has been a must for Personal Hygene. it is a very easy recipe . Most of the recipes use Fels Naptha Soap, a real soap that’s been around for 100 years and is specially designed for the laundry, but you can substitute any bar of soap, though it is one that’s not got a lot of extra oil (superfatted). You want a good, super-cleansing bar. (Extra oil is good for your skin, not for your clothes.) If you don’t mind that it’s not a “natural” soap, the Fels Naptha Soap works great. Adding Herbal essential oils enhance its natural fragrance and bring a clean earthy mild scent to your cloths wild some other herbs can be used as bacteria eliminators bringing out a pure cleanness scent almost naturally while other due both with specific scents. e.g. Lavender, Peppermint, Lemongrass, Echinacea, Cedar wood,Rose hips,
- 4 drops of PURE(undiluted) Lavender essential oil.
- 1 bar of Fels Naptha soap
- 1 cup of borax
- 1 cup of washing soda
- 1 gallon + 1 quart of water
Note: You can Replace the Lavender essential oil with another of your choice.
1. Lavender: Brings out a mild earthly scent that smells amazingly fresh and calming.
3. Cedar wood: Brings out a mild but more aggressively earthly scent that smells amazingly fresh and will aid in keeping bugs away naturally.
- First, using a food processor or manual grater, finely grate the bar of soap.
- Bring a quart of water to a boil on the stove and slowly add the soap, stirring gently.
- Reduce the heat and let it simmer gently until all of the pieces of soap are melted/dissolved.
- Add the borax and washing soda and stir until they are dissolved.
- In a separate pot, heat up the gallon of water or measure out a gallon of very hot tap water.
- Pour the soap/borax/soda mixture into a large container and slowly add the gallon of water to it.
- Stir until the mixture is well mixed.
- Let it sit overnight. It will “gel” together…kind of a custard-like consistency. I’ve also heard it described as “thick egg drop soup.”
- At this point add four drops of your PURE Essential oil of choice
- Stir or shake the soap each time you use it.
- Use 1/4 cup for a front loading washer. Use 1/2 cup for a top loading washer.
- Preheat your oven to approximately 390° – 400° Fahrenheit. (200° C)
- Pour a box (or a few cups) of baking soda (not baking powder) onto a baking sheet, and put it in the oven.
- Bake the baking soda from 30-60 minutes. I’ve seen reports of people baking it as little as 30 minutes – and people baking it as long as 2 hours. It doesn’t appear that over-baking it is a problem…so I’d recommend 45-60 minutes just to assure that the chemical reaction is completely complete.
- After pulling the baking sheet out of the oven and letting it cool, store the washing soda in a clearly labeled airtight container. The washing soda can “convert” back into baking soda if it’s exposed to air.