I like cleaning. Yes, I said it. I really enjoy it-I always feel better when the house is clean and everything is put away. Starting around January I have been trying to make our house more "green." I started making our own laundry detergent, countertop cleaner, we started recyling just to name a few.
I thought I would start posting a new way to be "green" every Wednesday. I think it will help me to stay more green and hopefully give you guys some new ways to be more Earth friendly as well.
Laundry Detergent:
Ingredients:
1 bar Felsnaptha soap (spelling may be off) or Ivory soap (whatever your favorite bar soap is)
1 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (found on laundry aisle)
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup fabric softer (optional - i leave this out)
Directions:
-Grate the bar of soap and place it into a pot and cover with water.
-Heat the water to simmer and stir until melted (do not boil - simmer only)
-Add this to a 5 gallon bucket (i bought mine super cheap at Home Depot). Add the other listed ingredients above and top up with 5 gallons of hot water.
-Stir the mixture well w/ a paint stirrer or paddle ( i use one of Kevins massive spoons for brewing beer)
-Cover and let sit 24 hours. After 24 hours the stuff should be gelled. (it will look like warm jello, not quite solid but thick). Stir well again to mix and then pour into containers.
Side Notes:
*I have saved up the 1.5/2 gallon containers from previous times I had bought liquid detergent so that is what i store them in now. I would ask neighbors (if you know them well enough) or parents for their empty containers to use. Or you can leave the remaining in the 5 gallon bucket the first few times if you keep it in a well kept temperature area.
*I have a HE (high efficiency) washer so I use about half of what i would put in w/ normal detergent. If you have a regular washing machine then just put in the normal amount that you would for each load.
*The reason I don't use fabric softner is because I have very sensitive skin and softner irritates it.
*Once the detergent has "gelled" it will not be a solid gel. it will more or less look like egg drop soup.
*This is a low sudsing soap. Don't be worried if you dont see suds-it's the ingredients in the detergent that cleans your clothes.
I have been using this for a few months now and I really enjoy it. It gets stains out of our clothes and keeps them smelling fresh. Plus, we probably will spend half of what one box of laundry detergent would cost for a whole year supply of the home made version.
PSA: Blogger is giving me a hard time when I try to respond to your comments. Please don't think i'm ignoring you! I am trying to get the problem fixed ASAP.
No comments:
Post a Comment