Who said "Going Green" has to be Expensive-Non-toxic Home Made Laundry Soap

First, before we go into the recipe, I need to give props where props are due, as I totally swiped this from one of my favorite bloggers and super funny and awesome woman whom I got to share being pregnant with~~Aubrey at http://thisblessedlife-aubrey.blogspot.com/

"Ingredients needed to make 4 gallons:
4 quarts water1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax (sodium borate)
1/2 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda (not baking soda)
1/2 a grated bar of Fels Naptha(I found these 3 soap products easily in the laundry soaps aisle at my regular ol' grocery store)

Supplies needed:
one pot used specifically for making soaps & cleaners in
a grater,
& something to stir the melting soap with a bucket larger than 3 gallons
ideally, 3 old 100 ounce laundry soap containers to store your new soap in
a funnel to get soap into said containers

Step 1: Put 4 quarts of water in your pot.
Add the grated half bar of Fels Naptha soap, the 1/2 cup Borax, and the 1/2 cup of washing soda.
Heat on medium heat.
Stir occasionally until all the soap has melted.

Step 2: Then, pour it into your bucket & leave it for about an hour to cool off. I used my empty diaper pail as my bucket.

Step 3: Once it's cooled off, add 3 gallons of very hot water to your bucket & stir thoroughly.
Step 4: Use your funnel and pour your new laundry soap into your storage containers. They will gel up as they cool & resemble everyday laundry detergent. Use about 1/2 cup per full load of laundry.

Voila!

And here's the breakdown:
I spent $14.25 total at Winco (grocery store) on a 55 oz. box of Arm & Hammer washing soda ($3.14), a 76 oz. box of 20 Mule Team Borax ($3.27), and 7 bars of Fels Naptha soap ($1.12 each). This will allow me to make a total of 56 gallons of laundry soap (!!). To compare, one 150 oz. container of Whisk laundry detergent (a little over *one* gallon) costs $13.00 at the same store.
I've been using this soap for a few weeks now & it's been working just as well as any of the overpriced detergents from the store. :)"

Please go and read Aubrey's blog, and see the pictures that go along with this recipe http://thisblessedlife-aubrey.blogspot.com/

I am sooo going to do this once we move to the States. (I'd do it now, but we are trying to use up, get rid, pare down on extra items as we aren't sure when we could be moving) I imagine that this laundry soap could have essential oils, like tea tree or lavender, added to it if one would like some fragrance, other wise it is truely fragrance free, and not fragrance masked like most "color-free fragrance-free" laundry soaps out on the market. I also imagine that this is an excellent laundry soap for cloth diapers, as it is fragrance and soap residues that gather in the fibers, and makes that ammonia-y soap build-up smell.

reason 4,657,245,478,463,456,346,767,345 to be excited to move back to the States-Home made laundry soap!!! Hurrah!