Using Old Soap as Laundry Detergent

When we were younger, my sister and I and some of our cousins used to go with our grandmothers down to the family house in Virginia. It is out in the middle of nowhere. Back then it even had an out house. We had to do the laundry with a wash board and brick hard bar of lye soap.

That got me thinking of a batch of soap that I made back in November scented with Cool Water. I forgot to superfat with Cocoa Butter. It's rock solid and just doesn't look like anything that I would want to use on my skin. I was feeling adventurous, so I pulled out the cheese grater and shredded it up and also threw in some lavender essential oil scented soap; also lye heavy...I forgot to add the Palm Oil :0(  Combined they sort of remind me of Gain's Spring Lavender detergent.

I know that there is a proper way to make laundry detergent that includes borax and washing soda and I know that this isn't it. But, it's my laundry and I'm allowed to experiment, lol. The shredded soap dissolved completely in the water and made lots of bubbles. Pretty cool. I did a load of bath towels and then a load of clothes (although I did add some baking soda to the 2nd load). Both smell and feel like any other load that I wash with store bought detergent. I'm definitely going to try this again, but,with the borax and washing soda added.