TLC Soaps & Sundries.com : Formulas : Recycled Laundry Powder

TLC Soaps and Sundries
Recycled Laundry Soap Powder

This process can be used when a soap that is lye heavy or to light on superfatting or you have older soap that you want to use and do not wish to mill it down to make a new soap out of it. Soap is either a bit lye heavy or 0% superfatted, works great either way. Any soap that is lye heavy can be turned into a laundry soap as long as it does not have additives such as herbs, oatmeal, etc. Shread the soap with a Salad Shooter or hand grater and let them dry completely. Stir them around each day till they are completely dried. I like keeping a large amount handy so that I can make my laundry soap as I need it. It stores in a large plastic conatiner very well.

This is a small recipe, I usually double this amount, but this will let you make enough to see how you like it for cleaning your cloths with a true soap.

5 cups of dried soap threads
1 cup each of Borax, Baking Soda and Washing Soda

NOTE:
Use 1/2 and 1/2 Baking Soda and Borax if you do not find Washing Soda
1 1/2 Tbsp. Sweet Orange Essential Oil
1 Tbsp. Lavender Essential Oil
1/2 Tbsp. Ylang Ylang or Rose Geranium Essential Oil (optional)
If you wish you can increase the Sweet Orange Oil by the 1/2 Tbsp. instead

You can also use any mixture of scenting oils you like and I find that sometimes I use more of the Sweet Orange Oil than I have in the recipe just because I like the clean fresh aroma that it gives. I also use some Fragrance Oils mixed with the Sweet Orange Oil to give different scents. So this can be tailored to your on flavor in scents. :-)

Mix the Essential Oils together together in a glass container to have them ready to put in the soap. Mix the powders together to be added to the soap threads as you blend them together in a food processor. This helps the soap melt much faster when it is powdered as much as possible. Take about 1 cup of the soap threads, a little more of the powders and blend till it is powdered. The soap will not become a real powder and will be like little pellets and that is fine. Blend all of it together, placing it in your storage container after each blending. Stir it together and add the Essential Oils or Fragrance Oils and stir in well and use as you would any other powder detergent. I think that is about 3/4 cup or so. The Essential Oils will add a nice aroma to the cloths and the Sweet Orange oils helps with cleaning the fabrics. Add a splash of White Vinegar to the wash during the wash cycle. Or you can add it to one of the Downy Balls and let it do its thang later in the cycle. The White Vinegar helps cut any oils out of the clothes that might be left in the recycled soaps and also helps to soften the fabric.

Created By Rita Scheu
TLC Soaps & Sundries
http://www.tlcsoaps.com