Today I stirred up the batch of liquid laundry soap I started yesterday and added more water. This bucket is pretty close to five gallon size, so when I dilute this in a 50:50 solution for the final product I should get close to 10 gallons from the mix. This batch of liquid is thicker than my last batch, I'm guessing cause this time I used Ivory soap instead of the Dial I had on hand for my last batch of liquid. Reminder: always use Ivory when you are making a mild laundry soap. The rest is just detergent.
I have also started an experiment: to make hand and dishwashing liquid. I grated a bar of Ivory to melt in water, stirring in a spoon of washing soda to soften the water and help with grease. This was poured into a gallon container and labeled. I plan to try it when I do dishes shortly. I am in hopes this mixture will not only do well for dishes but for those foaming hand soap containers as well--but I just filled them up today so it will be a while before I can test that theory. I also have a bit of antibacterial hand soap left that I need to use up.
Since I am down to 4 bars of cured Ivory soap I purchased a 10-pack at Wal Mart for $4.19. I unwrapped the bars, noticing as I did that the paper wrapping seems a touch thinner than what was on my last batch. They were definitely fresh, for the wax paper wrapping was almost damp and stuck to the bars in some places. I put some of the new bars in my sock holder and my pant basket to perfume them a bit with the curing soap. It will take a while for those bars to cure well and until then I have the four bars to use.
I also purchased a box of Arm And Hammer Washing Soda at the local Kroger. Price for a 3.5 pound box was $2.99. It is so nice to be near a big city! Last year when I started making laundry soap I had to go all over in the tiny town I was in and ended up paying nine dollars for swimming pool ph-increaser (sodium carbonate, a.k.a. washing soda). This greatly reduces the expense of the cleaners I make, though I must admit that 2 pound container of washing soda is still going strong. I want to take a picture of the box for an article I plan to write, and also wanted to vote with my money for the store to keep stocking that item.
I made a roast tonight with a piece of beef that had been marked down, adding a can of cream of mushroom soup (purchased last summer on sale), some vegetables, and a package of onion soup mix I got at one of those salvage groceries that sell damaged goods and stuff. It was soo good!
Anyhow, time to wash dishes and test out this liquid soap.