Making Laundry Soap!

In the past, my daughter Rose and her husband, Matt made laundry soap for me and gave it to me as a gift, in a fancy jar with a ribbon and label and scoop.  I enjoyed using it for that reason alone.  But in time I found it does a better job than detergents, smells better, and I know it is better for the septic system. 
 The people across the street seem to have had a disaster in their house involving water or worse and have gone to stay somewhere else while the Fire and Water Restoration people work daily at drying out the house.  It's been more than a week and still the house is deserted.   It's true that I don't actually know that their septic system is at fault but seeing a workman wandering around their yard looking down was maybe a clue . . .
 I have always been an advocate of septic systems because back in the 50's when the idea was new, my architect Dad touted them as a low-cost, efficient and permanent solution to household waste.  He went on to be a designer of malls, schools and nursing homes all over the Eastern half of the United States.  And back then, no one thought of pumping septic systems out.  The worst thing we put in them was a little chlorine bleach for the wash.
Now we pour noxious chemicals down our drains routinely, as well as sanitizers to kill bacteria, and bacteria is what makes a septic system work.  Not to mention ultra soft toilet paper!  I'm dedicated to keeping ours going as long as possible!

I use 1 cup borax, 1 cup washing soda and 1/3 of a bar of Fels Naptha soap, finely grated and some drops of a scented oil like lavender.  I made a big batch so now it lives in a big plastic container with a lid.  In a few days it will be time to hang the laundry outside, for the benefits of the sunlight (the best bleach you could want and a bactericide as well).  I forsee some clear-starching in my future too!