Still Works After 100 Years

After several bad cases of poison oak as a kid, I learned very well how to identify and avoid the "leaves of three." When I got older though, I started getting it from my then husbands clothes. He worked in landscape and would forget to tell me that he'd been clearing it all day, and I'd innocently pick up a nice rash just doing laundry. Around that time, an old man told me that if I ever come in contact with poison oak again, to wash with a bar of Fels-Naptha as soon as possible. I had no idea what he was talking about and just assumed it was an old fashion wives tales. Fells what? Crazy coot.
But one day in the laundry section at the market, I noticed some bar soap on the shelf, and a name that I recognized. Years later, my boys seemed to have poison oak more often than they didn't, and one day I remembered the old mans advice and bought a bar of the strong smelling laundry soap. I can't say for sure, but I think it actually worked.
Today on our first letterbox treasure hunt, we discovered that most of the hiding places were surrounded with poison oak. When we got home, I dug up an old bar of Fels-Naptha from the laundry room, and we had a human laundromat in the bathtub. My skin is drier than shit right now, but it might be worth it.
Anyway, I decided to look up this soap today and find out more about it. I apologize right now, because what I learned today is pretty boring.

You can make 5 gallons of homemade laundry-soap with one bar of Fels-Naptha, which costs less than 2 bucks.

I have no idea why I find this mildly interesting, but I do. I guess I never thought about making my own laundry soap. If anything, I think I'll put the recipe and a bar of this stuff in our earthquake survival kit. You never know. I could be the richest bitch on the block if disaster strikes.