Have you looked at the price of liquid hand soap?  You may not think you’re paying much if you’re paying say, .99 for 6 oz in a pump bottle.  But if you buy a gallon’s worth of soap at that price you’re paying about $10 per gallon.

So, I played around in the kitchen last week and made some liquid hand soap of my own.  I used Walmart brand bath soap that was sort of a knock off of Dove, liquid glycerin and water.

You can buy liquid glycerin at hobby shops or drug stores. Its usually cheaper at places like Hobby Lobby. I found it in the soap crafting section.

The reason you want to use it, is that it causes the liquid soap to gel just a little. Otherwise its completely liquid.  If you don’t mind completely watery hand soap, just use the bar soap and water. That’s the kind of hand soap I used ot make back in the day when glycerin wasn’t as easy to find.  I saved my soap scraps and mixed them with warm water to dissolve. Ta-Da – liquid hand soap.

Well, this recipe is better, Its thick and creamy but still pourable.

You’ll need:

1 cup of grated soap, which is about 1 bar of bath soap

1o cups of warm water

1 tablespoon of liquid glycerin.

Other equipment you’ll need:

a grater

a large pot

a wooden spoon or spatula for stirring

a container for holding all the soap

a pump bottle for dispensing the soap

Instructions:

Grate the bar of soap. You need 1 cup of grated soap.

Heat 10 cups of water in a large stock pot.

Add the grated soap and glycerin to the water.

Stir til the soap is dissolved.

Allow to cool for about 10 hours.

The soap will slowly gel. Pour into glass jars or jugs to store.

That’s it!

Now the particulars…..

This  would be most economical if you regularly use an expensive brand of bar and hand soap like Tom’s, Mrs. Meyers, etc. You could use a bar of the bath soap to make a gallon of hand soap.

You can add small amounts of warm or hot water to make it less thick if you need to.

 

You can experiment with adding oils to make the soap more moisturizing.

 

I get questions frequently about how well the CHK Classic laundry soap works.  It works well, but since my children are mostly grown, I don’t often get the dirt and grime that really tests the quality of  a detergent.  Today I did get the grime and dirt! My two middle sons went hiking through hill and hollow, creek and mud. They came home with mud caked on their jeans up to the knee, muddy socks and muddy shirts.

I didn’t think to take a picture of them, but I was pleased to be able to test that laundry soap on all that grime. What I got was perfectly clean clothes and no odor at all. In fact, since the CHK Classic laundry soap is not scented (unless you choose to scent it with essential oil) the clothes had no odor at all, just the scent of clean cotton.

So I can tell you that the CHK Classic laundry soap works very well on mud, perspiration, grass stains and plain old dirt. It gets out soil and odors. It costs me less than .02 cents per load. I use 1/4 cup per load.  I run water in the washer and add the detergent before I add the clothes so it has a chance to get good and dissolved in the water.

So, for those of you who were wondering if it really works on difficult soil, I can tell you  it does. Of course you’ll have to try it out for yourself. I use a Fels Naptha bar for stain removal. Just wet the bar and rub it on the stain, works well for collar dirt, grass, blood, food and more.  The homemade detergent does not suds so you may think its not working, but it certainly works for me.  Another plus is that it rinses out of your clothing very well, not leaving detergent behind in the fabric to weaken it. Follow a load of wash with the homemade cleaner with a vinegar rinse and you will have amazingly clean clothes for pennies.

Just wanted to report my findings!