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Homemade laundry soap:

Melt 1/2 cup grated soap in 4 cups hot water, then add 1/4 cup Washing Soda and 1/4 cup Borax. Stir until smooth. Add 1/4 cup Vinegar. Will foam up when add vinegar, but keep stirring. Stir until cooled a little. Add 2 cups water and stir. Can add hot water if is too snot-like. Add 2 cups more water. You might need to add more water to get a pourable consistently - worked ok for me with 2 more cups, or 10 total. Stir constantly (I used a whisk) until cool. Use 1/4 - 1/3 capful. Works great!

1 recipes makes almost 100 ounces.

Cost Analysis - using Winco prices

Super Wash Soda:
$3.15/55 oz = $0.0573/oz
1/4 cup = 2.5 oz
$0.0573/oz * 2.5 oz = $0.14/ 1/4 cup

Borax:
$3.35/76 oz = $0.0441/oz
1/4 cup = 2 oz
$0.0441/oz * 2 oz = $0.09 / 1/4 cup

Fels Naptha:
$0.99 per bar
1/2 cup is about 1/2 bar
$0.50 per 1/2 cup

Vinegar:
guessing ~$0.05 / 1/4 cup (I forgot to see how much vinegar cost when I went to Winco last week)

Sum: $0.78 per 100 oz
or $1.17 per 150 oz

I priced a 150 oz bottle of Arm&Hammer at $7.00. I figured it’s a moderately priced detergent, so would be the best comparison. I forgot to compare the HE version though. This recipe is great for HE machines (little sudsing).
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Hi, CB. Haven't posted in several months. Got WAAAY too involved in a political thread (one which was fortunately deleted in its entirety) It wasn't the discussion that angered me, it was the vitriol, the glee and ugly cartoons individuals posted when some unfortunate poster got banned (and there were many bannings)
Anyway, seeing your name and Granny's has prompted me to enter the fray again,hopefully on a more cordial thread.
Have been homesteading all of my 80 plus year so it is a natural for me. Had a successful garden last year, preserving lots and giving away lots. Picked over 100 quarts of strawberries and planted 100 new plants so should have lots this spring.
With hubby, cut,split and stacked 5 cords of wood, so now I am enjoying my old cast iron wood stove, cooking soups, stews and baking beans and biscuits.
We have no animals now-gave the last of our hens away last fall. Miss having fresh eggs but keeping water thawed for them was getting to be a problem so we will decide this spring whether to purchase more.
Good to see this thread started. Hope it keeps going and I think I must be on someones ping list as I was pinged to this.