Dirty Birds...

Hello lovelies!! I am SUPER excited about this post! It's been a long time coming to share this recipe. I had to perfect a few things before putting it out there and it's ready :-)

Why even try a new homemade laundry soap/detergent? Well, my husband works at a restaurant and the stains on his work clothes are awful. I'm talking grease, spices, dirt, grime etc. And the clothes smeeelllllllll....something fierce. It's gross. And honestly, I had gotten out of the habit of pre-treating stains because, well...quite frankly, ain't nobody got time fo dat! Even when I had pre-treated stains, and washed things multiple times, a lot of the stains were still there with regular detergent...the smell was always kind of still hanging around too. Hot mess.

My second reasoning for trying to make a homemade soap work was that we had switched to a free and clear detergent rule for our family because my kiddos have super sensitive skin. And they are SUCH dirty birds its unbelievable. Dirt from playing out in nature...sick. Germs...from playing out in nature...and with actual birds. Gross. Rabbit trail sorry. And when you look at the ingredients list of free n clear laundry detergent, it's not so free n clear. I know Free N Clear usually means "Free from perfumes and scents" but full of chemicals? No dice. So, a homemade laundry whipped soap offered me an option of having a TRUE free n clear soap that cleaned REALLY well. And so was born, this whipped laundry soap.

You guys, there are TONS of homemade laundry soap recipes out there. Some are ok, some are terrible, some are decent and a few are good. Not many are pre-cooked and hardly any are ground/whipped up like mine. It's definitely something different, and honestly, it looks like mayo (so PLEASE clearly label so no one ingests this, it will not feel good), but after multiple tries with different things, this is what worked and works best for me. It leaves NO residue on clothes, NO greasy feeling, gets the laundry incredibly fresh smelling, gets out almost EVERY stain I've tried it on and costs SO LITTLE!!! And we all know I'm all about a great dealio!

*** DISCLAIMER ***

For the love and the sake of your sanity, follow the directions as given. Adding ingredients at the wrong time or adding too much or too little WILL result in a crappy outcome. And no one wants to wash their clothes with crap. Right? Right! And...don't ignore this disclaimer like I know you probably did. :-) 

Ready? Here is what you'll need. Prepare for your mind to be blown by this amazeballs whipped soap recipe!

What You Will Need:
- 1 box of Borax (20 Mule Borax. Detergent Booster) Found in laundry detergent aisle. 1 cup.
- 1 box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT baking soda people) Found by the Borax. 1 cup.
- 1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap (Usually found in the hand soap OR laundry aisle)
- Large Pot
- 4 Cups water
- Wooden spoon
- Blender
- 2x 1 Quart glass jars
- 1 Tbsp measuring spoon


Step 1: Take your large pot/saucepan and heat the 4 cups of water over high heat until it comes to a roaring boil. While the water is coming to a boil mix the designated amounts of Borax and Washing Soda into a bowl, mix well, and set to the side to be added later in the recipe.

Main laundry ingredients! 

Step 2: You're going to have to grate up the Fels-Naptha soap. Some people have suggested using a food processor for this. Lets be clear...do. not. do. that. From experience, just don't. It gums up the entire works, gets all clumpy and gross and doesn't dissolve well at all. The best way that I've found to grate this, is with a hand grater. Even though it sucks, and takes a little bit, it's SO worth it. The fine dust chips of the soap dissolve SO much easier in the boiling water and gives you a creamier laundry soap to work with. No grit here!

See that finely grated soap? Perfection! And you'll have a super clean grater afterwards! :-)
I also use an extra bar of Fels-Naptha soap for any pre-treating stains that needs to happen.

Step 3: Your water should be boiling now. I suggest using a wooden spoon for this step. It's easiest on so many levels. Doesn't get too hot etc.

Add your freshly grated bar of soap to the boiling water. After adding, turn your heat to medium/medium high and start stirring immediately and keep on stirring constantly. It usually takes about 12-14 minutes for the entire amount to break down and melt completely. It'll clump together the first 5-10 min and slowly start to break down and the liquid will turn more and more of a pale yellow color.  ** Make sure to keep checking the melting status. If it seems to not be breaking down the soap, then you need to increase your heat. Make sure to keep the foam at a minimum. The wooden spoon helps to not make too many suds. Trust me...speaking from experience...you don't want this thing overflowing in your kitchen. :-)

Perfectionists: This step is going to drive you NUTS! Because, it's almost impossible to melt the bar completely. I drove myself crazy the first couple times trying to make sure there were NO lumps whatsoever, and peeps, it's not worth the hassle. Any extra that wasn't melted will get whipped into shape in the next couple steps. 

Keep on stirring until it's mostly smooth and liquid. Should be a pale yellow color. When this is done, remove from heat immediately. 

Just keep stirring...

Step 4: After removing from heat, add the bowl of the washing soda and Borax that you previously combined together. Add it all at once and stir it continually until it's all dissolved. The key with every step in this recipe is to stir, stir, stir. It helps make a creamy soap and helps it to not get gritty and melt completely when you use it in your laundry. 

At the very end, I like to take a wisk and give everything another good stir before adding to the jars. 

Step 5: Add the soap mixture equally into 2 quart mason jars. Once you've divided the laundry soap equally into the jars, fill them with water to the shoulder of the jar (where it starts to curve up to the top), cap them and flip them upside down. Basically, leave about 1 1/2-2 inches of space from the top of the jar. Let the jars sit like that for about an hour or so. Any soap that is still not dissolved will crystalize and separate from the rest of it. Then we will whip it all together in the next step. It won't separate much, but enough. This step is critical. Do NOT skip. 

Scoop. Fill. Cover. Set.

Step 6:  Here's the cool thing about the regular mouth sized quart mason jars...THE BOTTOM OF MOST BLENDERS (with the grinder/blade thingy on it), FITS ON THE TOP OF A MASON JAR!!!!!!!! It's incredible!!! Not only can that be helpful with this recipe situation, but you can do smoothies right. in. the. jar. Or homemade peanut butter! Or your pesto! Or...anything else!!! Your mind is blown right?!?! It's SO great!!

Yes, I am fully aware I am way too excited about this new found bit of information...

Anyway, uncap one of the mason jars. Screw the blade attachment onto the top of the mason jar. Flip upside down, fit onto the blender and blend on "blend" speed until it looks well incorporated. At this point, it still won't be whipped or fluffed but well mixed. Now, go ahead and hit the "liquify" tab and this will turn into the most amazing, fluffy, whipped laundry soap you ever did see. Takes about a minute of whipping total. 

If you have a super cool blender like a Ninja or VitaMix or something, you can't participate in this amazingness. But, you can add the mixture from the separated jars into the blender, blend it up and then scoop back into the jars. 

It'll be close to the top of the jar. Wipe off any excess and cover again with the regular Mason jar covers.

My mind is still blown from this. Love. 

Step 7: I guess there technically shouldn't be a step 7, but it seemed like it needed a lucky number 7. Cap your jars and admire your work. These can be kept for months just like they are in the jar. It's wonderful. These two jars will do 132 loads of laundry because all you need is 1 Tbsp of soap PER LOAD OF LAUNDRY. Listen when I say, do NOT add more. ONLY add 1 Tbsp of soap per laundry. I will put instructions for different machines below so everyone is covered and knows how to work theirs.

Cost Breakdown:    

- Fels-Naptha Bar Soap - $.98/bar

- Borax Detergent Booster - $3.59/box  

- Arm&Hammer Washing Soda - $2.98/box

Fels-Naptha Bar - 1 bar =      $ .98

Borax - 76oz box - 9 cups =  $ .39/cup

Soda - 55oz box - 6 cups =    $ .49/cup

                                               _______

                                      **** $1.86/batch ****

*I got a few ingredients on sale this last time, so my final cost this last time was only $1.67/batch. The REGULAR cost breakdown listed above is what you'll normally pay. :-) And still...it's stellar. I mean, $1.86 for 132 loads of laundry?? That's a win people!!!

Rules & Regs...Tricks & Treats

- NO fading with this soap!

- NO residue since you're pre-dissolved the soap into the recipe

- You can double, or triple this recipe. However you like to have it on hand always. 

- You can store this if you make a double or triple batch. Indefinitely. It'll harden a bit but will dissolve immediately in the washing machine. 

- Do NOT use Oxyclean or baking soda or any other "additive" with your laundry soap recipe. Also, don't add it into the recipe either. Your jar will explode. Your washer will overflow. :-) 

- This is AMAZING for people with sensitive skin

- You MUST whip your soap within 2 hours or risk it having an extremely grainy texture. Again, just follow the directions exactly and you'll be fine. 

You can use this soap in these different washers listed below:

- Front Loading

- Top Loading

- High Capacity

- High Efficiency (HE)

- Conventional

Front Loading Machine Directions

- Fill the machine with all your dirty birds clothes

- Take a 1 Tbsp measuring spoon (yes I actually measure it out) and measure out 1 Tbsp and put it on TOP of the pile of dirty clothes that you've put in. 

- Close the machine, start it on your wash setting (hot, cold, medium water...doesn't matter) and let it do it's thang!

Top Loading/Conventional Directions

- Fill the machine with your family's laundry

- Choose the cycle you want (hot, cold, medium...doesn't matter)

- Let the water run for a few and measure out (in your trusty 1 Tbsp measuring spoon) and let it drop in with the dirty clothes. 

- Close the lid and let it work!

It's literally THAT simple people. 

Thanks for reading friends!! I would love to hear your feedback, success stories, and comments!! 

XOXO,

Anna