Hold on, there! ;-) Just remember that horticultural/food grade DE acts as a broad spectrum pesticide. I'd not use it widely outside, where it can come into physical contact with the zillions of beneficial insects that help keep our world in a bit of ecological balance. It must not be applied to plants that are visited by bees and other pollinators, for example. And DE is just as harmful to ladybugs and predatory insects as it is to aphids. The many uses of DE is not a secret and certainly not a well-kept one. It's been used for generations to protect livestock (all kinds, including poultry) from pests and parasites and has been used in agriculture to protect stored grains, flours, nuts, etc. If you eat bread, cereal, peanut butter or anything related, you are likely ingesting DE. It's fed to animals to get rid of internal parasites, and when excreted will still keep the flies (etc.) from mass producing in the dung. It can be found in most 'feed and seed' stores. It's really not the most effective product to deal with most outdoor pest problems as it DOES wash readily away in rain or irrigation, soap or no soap. Though it doesn't dissolve, it loses some physical properties when wet. Be very certain, if you do decide to experiment with DE, that you are NOT using the pool grade product. It is processed in a different manner. Not only is Pool filter DE not effective, but a serious lung hazard as it contains high amounts of crystalline silica. This is what causes silicosis. You must take precautions about inhaling food/horticultural grades of DE, as well. Once settled, it's fine. Best uses? Inside the basement and garage where undesirable critters can lurk in dark nooks and crannies, and in hard to reach locations behind appliances (for example) where pests may hide and reproduce.

Here's one that doesn't require any cooking. 1 large bar of Zote, or 2 small bars 1 1/2 cups borax 1 1/2 cups washing soda Grate the soap, add the borax and soda and combine. An empty 5 lb pail from Sun OxyWash (an OxyClean clone, sold here at Dollar General stores) is ideal. Use 2 tablespoons in a front loading washer. If you are making soap for a front loading washer, or a top loading HE washer, DO NOT use Kirk's Castile soap. Kirk's is specially formulated to create lots of suds. You want a low sudsing soap in an HE machine, or you will get suds lock. This is not good, and can damage the washer. Fels Naptha, Zote, Sunlite are laundry soaps and all good choices.

Yes, it is called rebatching, and I will avoid it if at all possible. It's time consuming and tedious. To let you know, I make cp soap by the 10 pound recipes. I presently have 2 buckets of soap scraps, I would guess about a 2 or 3 cubic foot container. Instead of rebatching it I will add it to a new recipe of soap. Unlike what you have, this is still virgin soap scraps, not previously used. I will make soap and give these away or use them ourselves. What I would do if I had these previous used scraps, I would just add it to a new bar as they are being used; they do stick fairly readily, and they rarely come off. If you are going to still rebatch, I would grate them, then lightly mist them (not dripping) the night before, then add them to a crockpot on low or medium heat. You will need to set aside about 4 hours or so, depending on how much soap you need to do. The trick is to add just enough water (by the tablespoon) to keep the soap pliable and not dry, while you are trying to mash it, until it is thoroughly melted. Be careful, this soap is very hot while in the crock! Any scent of the scraps will disappear in the final product, so if you want it scented, then let the soap cool down a bit and mix in scent just before pour/mashing it into any molds. hth

I'm looking for a recipe for gardener's soap. I've searched a little bit online, and found many recipes with pumice or coffee, but don't want to use them in mine. Are there any other "easy" recipes out there? I do like something with oatmeal, but wonder if there are any other sites with garden soap recipes to choose from.