Making laundry soap

I am pretty picky when it comes to my laundry soap.  I have tried every brand out there.  Since moving to Oregon, I have continued to struggle with finding one I like.  I finally got brave and took the plunge and decided to make my own.
Oh my
If I had only known YEARS ago how EASY and CHEAP this is!

I decided to go the liquid route, since I wasn't sure how the water here did with powdered detergent, and also because we wear a lot of dark clothes and wash in cold water most of the time.

I found the ingredients I needed at Winco but I have seen them at Walmart, Ace Hardware, etc. -they are not hard to find.

The recipe:

bring to a boil on the stove 4 cups water
(while waiting for water to boil, use a cheese grater and grate one bar of soap of your choice.  I use Yardley because I LOVE their lavender soap and they are also a more natural company.  The less chemicals, the better).
*note:  make sure you are holding your cheese grater the correct direction!  The first time I made soap I couldn't figure out why it was taking me so long to grate the soap.... until my dear husband kindly pointed out I wasn't grating against the sharp edge! haaha
So normally, if you start the water to boil, then start grating, you should have the bar grated by the time the water reaches a boil.
Reduce the heat a little and slowly add the soap shavings.  Be prepared, the first bit you drop in will cause a lot of boiling and froth, but it quickly settles down. 
Stir with a plastic spoon and continue to add the shavings until all dissolved. 
Once completely dissolved, turn off heat and remove.

(I do the next step in the tub)
Using a five gallon bucket, add in 3 gallons of hot/warm water. 
You should only have to measure the first time you make soap, then make a mark on the outside of your bucket where 3 gallons is.
Add to the warm/hot water in your five gallon bucket:
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup Borax

Stir until dissolved, then add your pan of dissolved soap. 
Mix together, put the lid on and let it sit for 24 hours.
After 24 hours, mix again, breaking up all the chunks and solids.
I kept an old detergent bottle and using a funnel, pour from the big bucket into the bottle. 
The soap will gel so be sure to shake it before use (if storing it in old detergent bottle) or stir (if storing in bucket).
I use about 1 cup per load, depending on stain and odors.

I can't even begin to calculate the cost, as the Yardley is around $1 per bar and I paid $3.88 for Borax and $3.17 for washing soda, both of which are going to last for many, many, many batches.  I noticed last time I was at Winco they carried Felsnaptha bar soap so next time I am going to get one and melt it down for a concentrated stain remover.

Here is a great page I found with several different "recipes", both powdered and liquid.  And I love the extensive FAQ at the end of the article.  A must read if you are even remotely interested in making your own laundry soap and saving money.
http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/

The first batch I made lasted about 6 weeks (I probably do an average of 4-5 loads of laundry per week).  I have been very happy with the results.  It even gets the yucky cigarette smoke out of our uniforms.  And total time from start to finish was about 15 minutes :)