The Bandwagon

Alright.  I can admit it.  I jumped on the bandwagon and made my own laundry detergent.

And you know what?  It's not too bad.

I used a basic formula that is featured in several "green your home" type books and I washed two test loads- one general (socks, towels, t shirts) and one dirty (gardening socks, work pants, blue jeans).  I used WAY less than the suggested amount (because I feel like a cup of anything is a lot) and I gotta say I don't hate the results.

There are no strong perfumes from the type of detergent I made.  I did use Ivory soap which smelled very strong when I first chopped it up, but the clothes are virtually smell free.  But they are both good and bad smell free.  This was especially surprising with the dirty load since it smelled like sweat and compost going in.  I guess all of that baking soda worked.

I also decided early on to make a powdered soap, since I read that the "liquid" actually turns into more of a weird jelly substance and can actually mold if you don't use it fast enough.  No thank you.  The powder was easy to pour, mix, and contain.  The entire process took me maybe five minutes since I was extra careful pouring my powder into my recycled container.

Do I love it yet?  No.  I kind of miss that clean laundry smell.  Maybe I will add another bar of soap, or some essential oils... or maybe I just need to give it time and see if I change my mind.

Here is the super simple recipe I used.

4 parts baking soda- not washing soda (I'm planning to use washing soda in the next batch for a comparison)
3 parts Borax
2 parts Ivory soap grated (but if you just cut it with a knife, it tends to grate itself pretty easily.  Also, you can put it into a food processor and achieve the same results as well.)

Mix and use.  I used 1/4 cup for the regular load and 1/2 for the dirty stuff.

It obviously made 9 cups worth of detergent (4+3+2=9) so I will be trying it out for a while.  Hopefully by then I'll have a full report and a final verdict.

Who else is trying new things with laundry?  Anyone else still whipping out the clothes line in this 75* weather?  We are!  Let's gush!