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Here is a simple laundry "detergent" (actually pure soap, no synthetic detergents at all!) that also does a good job scrubbing toilets, sinks, surfaces, tough floors, pots and pans, cleaning ovens, etc.
It costs pennies to the dollar over commercial synthetics, uses no petroleum byproducts, and is sustainable. It won't cause detergent buildup on clothes, cloth diapers, or your machine.
Who can benefit from this? Your wallet, those with sensitive skin or respiratory allergies, and of course, the groundwater.
It costs pennies to the dollar over commercial synthetics, uses no petroleum byproducts, and is sustainable. It won't cause detergent buildup on clothes, cloth diapers, or your machine.
Who can benefit from this? Your wallet, those with sensitive skin or respiratory allergies, and of course, the groundwater.
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Signing UpStep 1Ingredients
Choose your soap, and gather your box of Borax, and your box of Sodium Carbonate.
If you can't find Washing Soda and/or Borax at your local Mart, ask them to get it for you, or you can also find it at various online places like "soaps gone buy".
Note, this is not the same thing as Sodium Bicarbonate, which is Baking Powder. Sodium Carbonate, sold, as "Super Washing Soda" by Arm and Hammer, or as "Washing Soda" by other brands, is used in everything from swimming pools to wet-process photography, and can be mined in its raw form, from the ground. It's a natural Earth substance, but caustic, which is why it does a good job. So don't leave it on your skin or get it in your eyes.
I use Kirk's Castile simply because it's cheap (a buck and change per longlasting bar), easily available, contains no animal products and is never tested on animals, is made from Coconut oil, contains no strong synthetic fragrances to set off my allergies, and is honest, pure soap without synthetic detergents (which are all petroleum byproducts, did you know that?)
I find Ivory too soft, and because so much air is whipped in, you get less actual soap per bar, and I couldn't verify the ingredients to my liking.
But if you want a fragrance, you can pick up a bar of Dr. Bronner's soap and have your pick of lemon, rose, lavender, and more. Costs about $4 per bar last I checked, but still much, much cheaper than storebought detergent.
If you make your own soap, even better.
If you can't find Washing Soda and/or Borax at your local Mart, ask them to get it for you, or you can also find it at various online places like "soaps gone buy".
Note, this is not the same thing as Sodium Bicarbonate, which is Baking Powder. Sodium Carbonate, sold, as "Super Washing Soda" by Arm and Hammer, or as "Washing Soda" by other brands, is used in everything from swimming pools to wet-process photography, and can be mined in its raw form, from the ground. It's a natural Earth substance, but caustic, which is why it does a good job. So don't leave it on your skin or get it in your eyes.
I use Kirk's Castile simply because it's cheap (a buck and change per longlasting bar), easily available, contains no animal products and is never tested on animals, is made from Coconut oil, contains no strong synthetic fragrances to set off my allergies, and is honest, pure soap without synthetic detergents (which are all petroleum byproducts, did you know that?)
I find Ivory too soft, and because so much air is whipped in, you get less actual soap per bar, and I couldn't verify the ingredients to my liking.
But if you want a fragrance, you can pick up a bar of Dr. Bronner's soap and have your pick of lemon, rose, lavender, and more. Costs about $4 per bar last I checked, but still much, much cheaper than storebought detergent.
If you make your own soap, even better.
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Also, if you want to get away from chemical-based rinse agents, replace it with white vinegar (lemon juice can also be used). I get no build-up, white spots/powder/residue on my dishes now.
I rarely use my dishwasher for more than a drying rack anymore, but when I do, these things never fail me. Citric acid can be bought at health food stores and some drugstores. (I bought mine through Amazon.) But like I said, lemonade Kool-Aid (no other flavors) works just as well, and you can also run an empty dishwasher through a cycle with a packet of Kool-Aid to clean it.
Thanks for the great tutorial. Happy washing!
I have also tried using Seventh Generation, which, possibly due to the plant enzymes and citric acid, works better, but is costly. So... I might use this homemade stuff most days, and if there's a particularly nasty load, or a load comes out not quite clean, then whip out the Seventh Generation stuff.
Both Seventh Generation and this homemade stuff left my dishes gritty and dirty when I ran out of the rinse agent, though. So the rinse agent is inescapable if I want to use a dishwasher. Half a loaf is better than none, though, and maybe someone has an Instructable for making homemade rinse agent?
But, I have used something that is called a "washer ball" which is a blue & white plastic that you can see through the slots of the plastic stuff & has small roundish pellets in it. The perks are: 1. that you do not need a full wash and rinse except for actually dirty laundry (kids play clothes, diapers, etc.) which also saves on water 2. You can use them over and over again. I have used one ball at least 100 times, sometimes in the wash water and sometimes both wash and rinse 3. Also, the little pellets can be purchased to refill the ball 4. The balls also help to keep the laundry from getting tangled & help it to get clean 5 My family doesn't seem to be senstive to it. I bought all that they had from Bed Bath and Beyond on the clearance table & now I wish that I had gone to another store & got more. They will last me for a good long time though. I am not sure what is in them as the pellets get smaller each time they are used but not by much. I need to go get one of the containers and look at the packaging so that I can let everyone know what the pellets are made of. Although I have been told that some of these were all hype and not what they were cracked up to be. I really don't know whether the ones that I have been using are ecofriendly or not but they definitely do what I expected, we don't have reactions to it and they were ultracheap so it is a win win situation as far as I am concerned.
To be fair, although clothes get clean and odors are removed, using this frugal and earth-friendly stuff, stains must be removed the old-fashioned way. This isn't some petrochemical stain-eater like Tide. Conversely, it won't eat your skin or the groundwater, either.
Some people manage not to stain their clothes, but I have young 'uns, and stains are a fact of life, and so, for now, is the wearing of bright, busy prints, and dark colors. Hope this helps!
btw, re: dishwasher
We fill our rinse agent reservoir with vinegar. No brand loyalty here - just whatever is cheapest. Works great.
hth
Thanks so much for the recipe and instructions! I am excited to try a microplane grater to grate the soap. Most of the recipes I have seen use a food processor and I only have a tiny one.
But glad to hear that stains aren't a problem for some!