Ugly As Homemade Soap

Did you laugh? I did! Ha! Homemade soap is ugly but I found a wonderful, local woman who makes homemade goat milk soap and she’s got them as prettied up as you can get ugly soap.  They are natural and wonderful and I feel terrific after a shower so I forgivethe appearance.  The soap I am referring to is laundry detergent. I got a wild hair Friday and decided to try and save a few bucks by exploring this idea. Come to find out it’s a NEW HOT TREND.

I am not trendy.  I don’t like trendy.  I don’t strive to be trendy.  I don’t get on PINTEREST at all but a good friend and reliable source tells me it’s a buzz out there….so. I found a recipe and the jury is still out on this stuff.  I am pretty sureI know where my problems with the soap lie, but need to consider a few things before I make a change or go back to the Tide Pods.

1st of all, my DRYER BROKE!!! I actually have 2 dryers. One that’s needing the heating element addressed and the other, an inheritance from my grandma.  It’s electric and we’re gaspeople so some finagling needs to be done before this dryer can work.  So for the last 2 weeks, everything has been line dried.  Even the socks are crunchy!!!  I’ll share the recipe and then blather on some more.

1 bar ivory soap, grated
1 cup borax
1 cup arm and hammer soap wash
Tea tree essential Oil

I call it ‘ugly soap’. 

I used 2 scoops of ugly in each load, line dried the laundry and voila!! Another week’s worth of laundry bites the dust. I made a TON of this ugly stuff and the supplies total (minus the oil) was just under $10.  So considering the cost of my beloved TidePods, I was thrilled at the savings!!  But I’m having some issues.  Of course. All I seem to have at times are issues.

THE EXPERIMENT:  A Smell Test. I know that’s weird but I can’t help it. I don’t want my laundry to smell like I dipped it into a stream, used ugly homemade soap and beat the stuff on a rock.  I washed a load of clothes in my ugly soap and a loadwith a Tide Pod and line dried them.  Both sets of clothes had a smell…but not of a fresh laundry detergent; it was kinda gamey.  Like an earthy, outdoor smell.  Not sure I am a fan of this smell because I notice it during the day. I turn my head and thereit is..essence of outdoorsy people…..but is it the ugly soap or the line drying. Hence the experiment. 

THE RESULT:  I am not sure of the source of the smell and if it has anything to do with the detergent as the ugly soap and the pods yielded the same outdoorsy fragrance.  Could be the absence of the dryer is allowing me to get in touch with my innerpioneer self and I am more spoiled and pampered than I realized.  The jury is still out. 

Other Problems:  Lent!!  The Hubby’s black work pants need a serious date with a lent brush.. At first we thought it was detergent that didn’t wash out but that was not the case. Bravo to the soap.  My dish cloths and towels aremisshapen but I am willing to overlook that as I do not wear dish cloths or towels.  This could also be the absence of the dryer causing me grief.  One final item of note is the appearance of some items to be barely clean to illustrate, Jacksonhad a MAJOR NOSE BLEED and soaked a wash cloth. I know it’s gross but we figure it out. Anyhoo this rag sat waiting to be laundered for about a week.  Hubby found it and ran it under some warm water and squeeze excess water out in an attempt to salvage thething.   I used the ugly soap and laundered and it was still gross.  Now again, is this the fault of the soap or is it just a neglected rag soaked in blood and my laziness AND no dryer…? 

So help a girl out, do you make homemade detergent?  Do you use essential oil in the mix? I did and it has a smell to it that I am not completely finding completely satisfying.  It’s STRONG. I love the fragrance of tea tree which I used in one of the batchesof soap and it’s just STRONG and not as sweet as I am used to.  Perhaps it’s the difference between fragrance and true oil.