FIMBY

I've been trying for a couple years now to make all our own cleaning products. I've succeeded fairly well with cold process hand & body soaps. Clean, Naturally: Recipes for Body, Home, and Spirit
by Sandy Maine is a great start for basic soap making. And of course vinegar, baking soda and borax works for most household cleaning. Add a little Dr. Bronner's (we like peppermint , though tea tree sounds great too) for dirtier jobs like the floor, toilet and shower.

I am now making our own laundry soap and it's a bit complicated so it's not for everyone. But a friend asked me how I do it and I thought I'd share it here:

First, I make a cold process simple lard soap. This is the hardest part and you have to read some soap books or websites if you want to do this part. I'm not going to instruct you on soap making.

Simple Lard Soap:

4 lbs of lard - nasty, yucky stuff
28 oz water
8.5 oz of lye

When the soap is ready, takes about a month to cure, I grate most of it in the food processor, saving some for basic cleaning bars.

Laundry Mix:

12 cups washing soda, not the same as by similar to baking soda
8 cups borax
6 cups grated Simple Lard Soap

I use cold water wash and rinse. For an extra large laundry load I use 1/4 cup of laundry mix plus a squirt (very technical measurement) of Sal Suds. Because the soap isn't finely grated I whisk the 1/4 cup with 1 cup or so of hot water to help it dissolve before I add it to the washing machine.

For stains I scrub and lather a bar of Simple Lard Soap into the stain, or soak in a concentrated solution of water and Laundry Mix. I'll be honest, our clothes get stained and all the scrubbing in the world doesn't take some of them out, oh well.

I also use Sal Suds for my dishes. It's very concentrated so a little is all you need.

I make my own dishwasher soap as well. That recipe another time, if there's any interest.