I have been making mine for a couple of years. I bar of zote soap but I put it through the food processor grate blade and then dump it into a bowl and put in the mixing thingy and put it back into the food processor and pulverize it into tiny balls, and then add the borax and washing soda and pulverize all of that. The other measurements aren't exact. Sometimes I get to the end of one of the boxes and there is a little more, so just dump it in. So far, it has worked great for us. Never have seen the Zote in flakes. That would be something to try.