Home made Detergent

I have heard that people make their own laundry detergent. The other day I decided to give it a try. I bought a bar of Castile soap with lavender at Trader Joe's, I still had Borax and I bought a box of Washing Soda. Next I grated the bar of soap. Then I boiled some water and added the grated soap and stirred until it was dissolved. Now I added one cup of washing soda and one cup of borax, again I stirred until it was all dissolved. I then took an empty bucket (it did have laundry detergent in it at some point) and filled it with hot tap water. Now all I had to do was add my boiling soap mix into the bucket of hot water, stir. Done! I let it sit 24 hours and now we have wonderful laundry detergent without all the ugly chemicals and much cheaper! My detergent didn't gel, but I have since learned that whether it gels or stays watery depends on the bar of soap you use. I used Fels-naphta before but I didn't like the strong smell. I really like lavender so, that's why used that one.  Here are some pictures.....

NOTE: I have since found out that you shouldn't use more than about 1.5 gallons of water. It got too watery the way I made it at first.

this is the water and grated soap

                                                                                         

                                    

here it is dissolved....

Here is the the mix in the bucket of water