By bethC
I'm partial to liquid laundry soap so I just disolve my soap and other ingredients in hot water. I usually use Fels Naptha soap, but recently I started using a homemade lye soap (not the nasty harsh stuff - this is really awsome) and it works wonderfully.
I get my soap from nosweatsoap@yahoo.
I grate it by hand and then set the shreds out on a pan to dry for a couple of days. Then when dry, I put it in a food processor and it turns into a very fine powder.
Does this suds up in the washer? Sudsing does not mean clean clothes. You can wash most clothes in just plain water, soda, etc. without any soap.
Art projects using the soap powder--a box shredder works. Some soaps have a soft base. When I buy new bath soap, I unwrap them and hang them in a net bag to dry. Makes the area room smell good as well! Soap lasts longer when dried out first before use.
Dry the soap out first, then add it to the processor with the washing soda and borax. The powders should keep it from clumping into balls. I use my bar soap for the shower and just save the slivers that are too small to use (and won't stick to the new bar) in a container. When I'm ready to make laundry detergent/soap, I always have enough for a double batch. This way, I feel I'm using something that I would have thrown out.
I set mine out in a small tupperware container without the lid, on the top of my microwave and let it dry out 9(about 2-3 months), then I grate it with a fine hand grater. I always buy more soap, than I need. So I always hve dried on hand.
I use Zote bar soap, and it does the same thing. I let it dry 5-6 days, then put it through the processor again.
Your soap was probably still moist. Once dry, you can also grate it. However, when I make the powdered hand soap, I just use Ivory Snow laundry powder.
I might have to buy a bar of Ivory just to test out the microwave thing! Sounds interesting!
If you put the bar of ivory soap into the microwave, it will fluff up and look like Meringue. Then you can put it into a ziploc bag and smash it. It will be a very fine powder. My daughter and I did this just last week!
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