http://custercottage.blogspot.com/2016/07/handmade-laundry-butter-or-laundry.html
I received permission to share this recipe with you.
This is from fat farm girl soaps.
It's an animal-free veggie-based variation on
the cream soap that our grandmothers made for their own laundry, and it's
*super* cheap! My grandmother made hers with tallow/lard soap, and instead of
borax she used plain old salt,
but this is better. You *can* use plain salt if you have concerns about borax.
Coconut oil soap is super cleansing, and is able to strip dirt right out of
fabrics. The cool thing about Laundry Butter is that it's multi-purpose: you
can use it as a laundry soap, a stain pre-wash, and it can also be used as a
household cleaner for floors, draperies, etc.
Our household of three adults and 2 farm dogs spends about $4 total on laundry
soap each year, and this is why.
If you don't buy coconut oil in bulk, to make coconut laundry soap, I recommend
that you buy the coconut oil tub shown in the picture. It only costs $6 at
Walmart, and will give you right around 3 pounds of soap. You can also use
parts of laundry bars as stain sticks by just wetting them and rubbing them
directly into stains.
However much soap you decide to make, be certain that you calculate for 0%
superfat.
The way I make coconut soap is I scoop my room temp oil into a safety bowl in
the sink, I add my lye solution, and I mix my soap past trace to full emulsion.
When the soap looks like mayonnaise, use a spatula to pile it into a three
pound loaf mold; a small bread loaf pan works for this if you line it with
parchment or freezer paper and tape the inside corners to seal them. It will
take about an hour for the soap to gel and solidify. I cut mine right away,
others choose to wait until the next day.
To make Laundry Butter Cream Soap:
*Grate 6 ounces of 0% SF coconut laundry soap
* In a stainless steel pot with a lid, bring 6 cups of distilled water just to
a boil, then take off the heat
* Pour grated soap into hot water and stir to dissolve completely
* *Slowly* sprinkle in 1 cup of borax, and stir until dissolved. *Do* *not* add
to boiling water or with the soap when the water is super hot, or it will
crystalize and you'll never get the crystals out.
* Stir in 1 cup of washing soda (made by baking 1 cup of baking soda @ 400F for
30 min.) and stir to dissolve.
* Cover pot with the lid and let the mixture gel at room temperature for 3 to 6
hours until completely cool and set. Don't try to speed up process, or you'll
end up with more crystals.
* When mixture is completely cool and gelled, use the stick blender to
emulsify, making sure to get the bottom of the pot where some of your borax may
have settled. Blend until the soap is the consistency of thick, creamy
mayonnaise all the way through and all clumps are gone.
* At this time you can add any EOs that you'd like. Some essential oils survive
the washer better than other. Some scents stay better if you use a clothes line
rather than a heat dryer. Lemongrass is my best seller.
* Bottle into 2 one quart canning jars, tamping lightly on a folded towel to
expel air bubbles. Store at room temp.
This recipe can be easily expanded. I make mine in 6 gallon batches to accommodate five flats of quart-sized jars. From start to finish, I can turn out
a full batch in a 6 hour day.
The perks of Laundry Butter are:
Compact size: 1 jar washes approximately 160-175 standard loads in either front
loading or top loading. washers. Unlike liquid soaps, you don't need a 5 gallon
bucket to store a year's supply, and every jar weighs right around 3 pounds,
making it ideal for college students and apartment dwellers.
Naturally phosphate free, making it gentle for the environment.
Less messy than either the powdered or liquid laundry soaps.
Very economical: it's not just multi-purpose, it's also super-concentrated. One
Tablespoon washes a standard load of laundry. *And* the jar is recyclable. I
give my farmer's market customers $2 off when they bring their jars back.
It's good for people with skin sensitivity. I have severe skin allergies, and
this is the one soap that doesn't make me break out in hives.
For the record, if you make this soap to sell in bulk, you can make radical
profits. Whilst the cost, not including the jars, is less than a dollar per
jar, I sell this soap for $10 a jar, which is comparable and more economical
that store-bought detergent, and it cleans just as well.
Updated laundry butter recipe with photos:
http://custercottage.blogspot.com/2015/02/laundry-butter.html
http://custercottage.blogspot.com/2016/07/handmade-laundry-butter-or-laundry.html
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Thanks for viewing! Dawnie
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