Frugal Friday~From Bar to Liquid Soap

I have been wanting to make my own liquid hand soap for awhile.  I usually buy a gallon of antibacterial soap at Sam's club and have been waiting until I was almost out of my supply before I attempted making my own.

Yesterday I decided I couldn't wait any longer.  I had an empty laundry soap bottle that was waiting to be put to good use. 

I love the smell of fels-naptha soap that I use in my home made laundry recipe so of course it was my soap of choice to make the first batch.

I found this recipe several  months ago and if you search there are several to be found.
1 c soap flakes
10 c water
1 Tbs glycerin 

A bar of fels-naptha is more than one cup so I "modified" the recipe to use all of the bar.  I added another two cups of water to compensate.  I also read more glycerin may be required with some soaps, and of course, I added 20 drops of tea tree oil for it's antibacterial properties. 

Add grated soap, tea tree and glycerin to water.

 

Heat on medium heat until soap is melted.

 

 

Once it has cooled enough you can pour it into your storage container.

What most of the recipes don't tell you is that the glycerin will thicken as it cools.  This will take several hours.  I added more glycerin due to the increased soap and liquid.  As the product cooled, I had to add more water because it was too thick.  The amount of glycerin you need is going to depend on the type of bar soap you choose.  In researching the subject, I came across various sites.  Some indicating glycerin may not be needed for some types of soap, while more glycerin is needed for castile type soaps.  This got me looking further into what type of soap fels-naptha was classified as.  I couldn't find anything that actually classified it as a castile soap, but rather a laundry soap.  There were many comments on how well it works when rubbed directly on stains and how it will help whiten clothes.  Some also felt it was a more harsh type soap. 

Finished Product

Here is the finished product.  Don't you love the mason jar pump dispenser?  This was something a friend gave me as she was cleaning out things so no longer used. She said she knew I would find a good use for it.  I was hoping to use it for hand lotion in my bath, however, this home made hand soap recipe called for a special dispenser.  

Please disregard the plastic Pepsi bottle in the background.  My husband refills them out of two liter bottles and has a collection sitting on my counter.  If you bump them they fall over like dominoes!  Ugh!

Next to try making liquid body wash.  I already have a bar of Yardley Aloe and Cucumber soap I want to use.  We currently use Jason Tea Tree Satin Body Wash, and have for several years.  The cost is around $8 for a 32 ounce container.  The cost of a bar of Yardley soap is .69 when I can get them on sale.  

My only complaint about the recipe is that is is a little "stringy".  It leaves a trail of soap from the dispenser when you pull your hand away after you have pumped it into your hand.  This may be remedied with altering the glycerin amount.  I will have to experiment on the next batch.  This netted a little over a gallon of soap, which will last us quite awhile.  Cost of fels-naptha soap .99.  Cost of glycerin 3.40 for an 8.5 ounce bottle.  The glycerin can also be used in other recipes such as body lotions, which I hope to attempt soon.

From Table Cloth to Napkins

  I have had this table cloth for over twenty years.  It was something that came in my sales kit that was rarely used.  Lately I have made a conscious effort to try and cut back my use of Kleenexes by using hankies.  I had some that were my grandmothers that I have been using, but I only had a few of them. Instead of buying more I decided to see what I already had that would work to make my own.  This table cloth was the first idea that came to my mind.  Once I got it out and started looking at it I realized it would make some really nice cloth napkins instead. 

I used my square guides to cut out the material. I used a 12x12 and for the napkins and a smaller one for the hankies.  The material without print was used for the cloth napkins.  These ended up being a Christmas present for my mom, which turned out great.  The part of material that contained print I made hankies out of. They are just the right weight and softness.  Now to add to my hankie collection to cut back on purchasing Kleenexes even more!

I used my serger to finish the edges.  

For the napkins I used 4 threads, and for the hankies 3.