DIY Natural laundry pods are a great way to recycle all your soap scraps collected from either soaps that have failed the designed requirements, lost their vibrant color, fragrance, or just did not sell.

The soaps are mixed in with good old Washing Soda or Sodium carbonate made up of limestone and salt or can be derived by burning plants (thus also known as soda ash). It is high in pH and stronger than baking soda which works wonderfully in getting rid of the stains and amp up the performance of any soap/detergent. 

We have also used Eucalyptus Essential Oil which is commonly loved for its anti bacterial properties keeping bugs and insects away and clothes smelling fresh.  

Ingredients: 

1. 200 grams Soap Scraps: It can be a mix of melt and pour soaps, cold pressed soaps, market bought soaps/soap samples
2. 200 grams Washing Soda
3. 10 grams Eucalyptus Essential Oil 
4. Cookie cutter
5. Food processor/blender

Instructions:

1. Grate your soap scraps using a cheese grater. Remove any dried flowers / leaves if any while grating and you can mix all the soaps up. 
2. Weight the grated soap and add equal weight of washing soda. You may increase or decrease the quantity of washing soda depending on how strong you want the natural laundry pods to cleanse. In general, if you want the natural laundry pods to have strong cleansing power you can increase the washing soda quantity and vice versa. Do note that too much washing soda can fade weak colored clothes. 
3. Now add Eucalyptus essential oil to the blend. You can increase or decrease the quantity of eucalyptus essential oil basis how lasting you want the clothes to have the fragrance. Or you can also change the fragrance to something you prefer. 
4. Blend the mixture up in a blender or a food processor to get the clay like consistency. If you add extra washing soda, you might end up with a more powdery consistency, which you can modify by spraying some rubbing alcohol and mixing it up again.
5. On the other case, if you add too much of essential oils or your soaps are high on super fats, then you might end up with a gooey consistency. You can compensate that by adding more washing soda for stronger cleansing or baking soda for milder cleansing. 
6. You can even store the blend in a powdery form in a air tight container. Or take the easy of usage up a notch and create natural laundry pods for easy usage. 
7. Scoop out a dough of the soap clay and create a flat sheet, using a cookie cutter cut your natural laundry pod. With the warmth of your hands, you can manipulate the shape for a smoother finish. 
8. Do this for the complete batch and store them in a air tight container for ease use. 
9. Next time, use your own DIY natural laundry pod (approx of 30 grams) which would be good enough to wash off one load of clothing. 

Want to learn how to make & sell handmade soaps. Join our Soap Making Course for beginners to kickstart your home business.