Soapy Goodness

I need to get off my can and post, so here is some good, clean fun: laundry detergent!! There are recipies all over the web- Google "homemade laundry detergent" and you will get a google of results (wink, wink). Well, I thought that was punny...

The recipe I use calls for water, washing soda, Borax, and some form of soap- either Fels Naptha, Zote (fun, pink, Mexican, and can be used as catfish bait!), Lirio, Ivory, or some other low sudsing soap. I've even used some good ol' SafeGaurd in a pinch. It's kinda fun to try it different ways, and your clothes get clean no matter what. Here's what I do:

Heat 6C of water on medium heat in a large pot and melt 1/3 bar of soap-grated/shredded (1/3 bar if using laundry soap, otherwise a whole bar of body soap), heat 4C water in a seperate pot. Once the soap has dissolved, add 1/2C each of washing soda and Borax until completely dissolved. In a 2 gallon bucket add the hot water, then the soap solution and stir. Then add 1 gallong + 6C cool water and stir. The solution will gel over night to an egg soup to solid gel consistancy. Use 1/2C per large load of wash. You can add essential oils, add a little extra soap, soda, or Borax, use more or less solution per load, it really isn't rocket science. You are NOT going to blow up your kitchen, there is not uber toxic stuff going in there (I wouldn't lick the spoon, but you don't need a haz-mat suit, either), my kids help, and we squish the finished gel for fun (that makes it easier to scoop out, too).

There are sites that break the cost down to pennies per load, but all you need to know is that it's CHEAP. It's cheaper than the cheap detergent I used to get. Add to that the fact that you aren't using a new plastic container every time (even though we recycled our old containers, they were still manufactured and packaged and marketed which all adds up to a high cost on our planet and resources). AND... it works. It gets my diapers clean. Shouldn't have to say more than that right there.