Making laundry soap

A few days ago a friend posted this on Facebook, and I was instantly besotted.  You see, I love baking and cooking, but I'm notoriously impatient and always looking for a short cut.  I rarely put in the hard work required to do something organically from beginning to end. So this project instantly appealed to me- because it allows me to proudly create something home made (at a cost savings), but doesn't require me to boil a cauldron of industrial-strength lye over an open flame.

While it would of course be far greener to perch a handwoven hemp basket (filled with my dirty drawers) atop my head, carry it to a pond and then beat them on the lava rocks- I am happy with the middle ground.  So yesterday Ryan and I went to the store and easily found all of the recommended ingredients.  And to my surprise, even though we live in Hawaii- for under $20. This morning we eargerly made our laundry soap, and ta-da! We now have about a year's worth of soap.  I now get to return the huge bottle I just bought from Costco (that usually only lasts 3-4 months and costs about the same amount).

In the grand scheme of things, I'm really not saving all THAT much since there's only three of us ($60 a year or so), and I only wash about 2-3 loads a week.  However, it does appear to be a bit more eco-friendly in that you only need to toss out the ingredient packaging once vs. 3-4 Costco plastic containers (per year).  It also eliminates the use of excess chemicals/perfumes added to most commercial detergent as well (not that I ever had a problem with the beautiful clean scent of Tide).  :-)  So overall, I think for the amount of time and effort involved, it's a pretty neat thing to do...

We used the large grater as recommended, and it only took about 5 minutes to grate all three bars.

I wasn't going to take any chances of Ryan inhaling all that fine powder while mixing it up, so I made a protective mask for him.  I should probably trademark how I did it...but because I'm a giver, here it is- 1. Take a piece of Kleenex, fold it in half.  2. Secure it to each side of your child's cheek with a piece of Scotch tape.  3.  Smugly smile at your ingenuity.

To store it all, we used upcycled Costco cashew containers & scoops from the canisters of OxyClean.  Ryan is holding  5 loads worth of soap that we packaged for our trip next month.

While I was busy mixing and packaging...someone scampered off to play store.  As I continued to work and clean up for another 10 minutes, he helpfully asked me in 17-second intervals if I wanted to play store with him.  (But he's not pushy at all.)

So the moral of the story is this- even lazy people can be pioneers. I am proud, living proof.  :-)