Homemade Laundry Soap

Homemade Laundry Soap, it couldn't have been easier.
Updated May 27th, 2012

I have been meaning to do this for several years (back when I had Camry in cloth diapers!) and I finally have done it.  Motivated in part by my sister-in-law who made her own a few months ago, in part by the cost of buying soap,but mostly motivated by being tired of having it on my grocery list and then not buying enough. 

The "non-food" grocery list has been consuming around $60/month of my grocery budget and I am pretty sick of it.  So, this is one step in the right direction, as the recipe I made, makes 48 loads worth (assuming 3/4c per large, soiled load).  Right now I have it in a 5 gallon bucket, but that isn't going to look too pretty sitting on my washing machine, so I need to look for a solution for that.  I will post again to let you know how well I think it cleans and smells.

Here is the recipe I tried:
http://raisingolives.com/2009/03/homemade-laundry-soap/#comments

This recipe was really simple and I think it cleans well; but it has a weird consistency. I ended up putting the mixture into 2 ice cream buckets.  I have to stir the mixture before I use it because the soap has risen to the top and is not fully dissolve into the mixture.  I will be looking for a new recipe.