Pinky Dinky Goo III

Today I made another batch of laundry detergent. While I haven't used this one, I like how it turned out MUCH better. Here's what I did different than the last time:
Last weekend, I used a grater to grate up the two large bars/cakes of Zote soap. I thought this would be very messy and difficult but it only took a few minutes to do both bars (HV had been being a weenie and so I actually was going to have her do it as somewhat of a disciplinary task, but I had it finished in no time). I put the "flakes" in the largest plastic dish that we had and then covered them with warm/hot water. I put the lid on and it has been sitting in the garage since then. When I opened the plastic container today, the soap "flakes" had dissolved into the water. The whole container was like a soapy gel. I then used a ladle to put several scoops into a pot on the stove with more water for melting. This was MUCH MUCH easier than when I did it before. I also left it on the stove top a bit longer than I did the last time, allowing it to melt better. I learned that it will turn a darker pink color and the water will be clearer, not cloudy or opaque, when it has melted more fully. I had two pots of this going and, again, it was so much easier than before. This pretty much added the remaining water that was needed to fill the 5 gallon container. It's still cooling and setting up in the pantry now. I think it looks very smooth, not quite as chunky as before. We will see how it is when it cools completely.
Yes, this is only our 2nd batch of this stuff. We started using the first 5 gallons at the end of June. We still have some left, but we will run out this week and so I took advantage of this rainy day and made another batch. Granted J didn't have to do as much laundry while we were gone, but it's still has lasted a LONG time. I have enough Super Washing Soda to make one more batch and I have LOTS of Borax left so I won't have to buy that ingredient again for a while. So, I only had to purchase the two bars of Zote soap for less than $2 total for this 5 gallon batch. Great!