An Update: Make Your Own Laundry Soap

So, I finally ran out of the laundry detergent that was given to us when our neighbors down the way moved out.  The same ones that gave us the couches and a grill.  I may not run out of dryer sheets until the middle of next year.

I rinsed out the cap from the empty bottle of detergent and decided to use that as my scoop for my homemade detergent.  I wrestled with the lid of the bucket, trying really hard not to accidentally tip the darn thing over.  Why do they make those lids so flippin tight?  I needn't have bothered.  When I finally got the lid off my bucket, I was looking at dry bubbles.  You know, like you see in the top of your pancakes when it's time to flip them?  Dry.  Dry??  My liquid detergent had turned into something solid.  I was dumbfounded.  Immediately, I sent a text over to my friend Rey asking if that was supposed to happen.  She says it happens to hers all the time, but seems to be worst when it's chilly out.  Just stir it.

So I stirred, and I stirred, and I was up to my wrists in the stuff because it had solidified all the way to the bottom of the bucket.  Kind of like magic, water seemed to return to the bucket.  I never got all the lumps out of it, but it returned to something resembling a sort of oozy liquid.  So, if anyone out there is thinking of giving it a go and you open your bucket to find jello where detergent once was, it's ok.  Just stir.... a LOT.

Now, I need to go out in the yard and finder a stronger stick, because the one I have is apparently just not going to hack it much longer.  On the bright side, I had my hand in that soap for quite a while, and the worst I can say is my skin is a bit dry feeling.  No itching, no burning, so strange slimy residue that refuses to come off no matter how long I rinsed.  Pretty awesome :-)  And Rey usually breaks out from laundry soap, but she's been using this stuff for months now (she's on her second batch), and no one in her sensitive skinned family has had any issues with it.