Homemade Laundry Soap

6 cups of water
1/3 bar grated Fels Naptha Detergent Bar (or one whole bar of Ivory Bar Soap or your own homemade soap)
3/4 Cup Borax
3/4 Cup Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer makes this)
1 Quart hot tap water
6 quarts water

Directions:
Dissolve the grated soap in the six cups of water on your stove over medium heat.
Once the soap is fully dissolved, then add the borax and washing soda. Stir until dissolved (a couple of minutes).
You will need a container for your laundry soap that is large enough to hold 3 gallons. In this container, put 6 cups of hot tap water. Pour your hot soap solution into this container and stir. Add the additional 6 quarts of water. This laundry detergent will gel up. It may also separate a bit before it is all used. This is all okay. I like to break up the gel solution and pour it into old laundry containers I have saved. I generally shake the bottle before using to allow it to pour well.
Use 1/2 cup for one load. I like to use one full cup of detergent and add an extra Tablespoon of borax when I wash my towels (especially if they have been damp and waiting in the laundry basket a few days).

You may also add some essential oil to your laundry detergent when you are incorporating all the water.
Enjoy!

How to Package Soap Continued

I ordered some sample gusset polybags from the SAKet Co. I found that 2 1/2 x 1 1/4 x 7 1/2 gusset bag is the perfect size for a bar of soap (well, perfect if you use my recipe and soap mold from my DVD "How to Make Goat Milk Soap with Oatmeal." ) If you are packaging soap to sell, the price couldn't be more reasonable. 1,000 bags are $24.28 which breaks the cost down to 2 1/2 cents per bag.

I tie my bags with an approx. 12 inch piece of ribbon. I just use inexpensive organza ribbon and try to keep the same color ribbon on the same kinds of soap. This makes my display pretty and helps me identify my soaps quickly. I have found that many people like the soap packaged this way at craft shows because many of my customers purchase soap for gifts.

Having the soap packaged like this makes a nice gift for teachers, babysitters, grandmas and other relatives, etc.

I believe the total cost of packaging my soap this way about 10 cents per bar. If you sell your soap for $4.50 per bar (4 oz.) you should be able to make about $3.40 - $3.90 profit depending upon your fragrance and other ingredients in your soap.

You can find this website at The Saket Company.

It is also easy to attach lables for your soap on the back side of your packaging. I use address labels that you can purchase at an office supply store ( I get the size where thirty address lables are on one page).

You are not required by law to list your ingredients, but if you don't, it is nice to have a brochure to hand out that lists the types of ingredients you use in your soaps. I like to list ingredients on my labels as well as my company's name and a way for a customer to reach me (phone number and email/website).