Eureka! Finally--a super easy way to make laundry soap

I can't remember if I blogged about it, but over the summer, I burnt out the motor on my Oster food processor, trying to grate soap for laundry detergent.

I was SO disappointed, because using the food processor was SO much easier than grating it by hand. About a month after the Oster bit the dust, I caved and bought a Kitchen Aid.  I also set about doing a little more research, so that I wouldn't burn out this motor, too.

Heavens be praised--I found THIS BLOG POST.  She is a genius.  A GENIUS, I say!!!  Her method worked like a charm. It was beautiful. It was SO easy.  I am so happy.

Here's what I did (but totally check out her blog, too!):

Not sure why this photo didn't rotate, but this is the soap I use, Fels-Naptha.  You find it in the laundry detergent section of the store.

I cut it into cubes.  I'm not sure I really had to do this, but it couldn't hurt, right?

This is what it looked like after being MICROWAVED for 30 seconds.  THIS IS THE TRICK, people!!!  See it getting kind of bubbly? This softens the soap. (Ignore the messy inside of my microwave.) Be careful--it's HOT.

Sigh, another un-rotated photo.  While the soap was in the microwave, I put 1/4 cup of baking soda in my food processor.  I think this is to keep the soap from getting all clumpy.

And then in went the soap.

Pulse, pulse, pulse, and VOILA! Perfectly grated soap.  You have no idea how brilliant this is.  I was practically dancing in my kitchen.

Then it's time to add the Borax (1 cup) and Super Washing Soda (1 cup--this is different from BAKING soda, and can also be found in the laundry detergent aisle).

I used a giant Tupperware bowl to mix it up.

This was so easy, I made 6 batches today.  (Not all at once! Just grate one bar of soap at a time!)

I also add 1/2 cup of Oxyclean per batch.

That's a lot of laundry detergent.

I use quart mason jars to store my detergent.

This made about 7 quarts and a bit. It should last us until January, at least.  We use between 1/8-1/4 cup at a time (we have a regular washer--used less in a HE washer). 

The kitchen smelled fabulous when I was done, and I was so happy to have this chore taken care of!