Custom Search

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Laundry Soap DIY

I've been buying Eco friendly laundry liquid for a while now but still wanted to look for an alternative as it's not cheap stuff and i want to reduce my packaging. So, i went out and bought a bucket, some pure soap and a bag of washing soda and came up with my own laundry soap!
Grate 1 bar of pure soap into a pan and cover with enough water to dissolve. Dissolve gently stirring continuously.
Fill the bucket with hot tap water, stir in the melted soap and a cup full of washing soda.


I found that the melted soap and washing soda didn't quite mix well so i returned it all to a large pan and stirred on a low heat until it was. Leave it to cool and it looks like this:Gloopy and blue!
I've been using it for a few weeks now and it works, my clothes come out clean and they smell fresh unlike with the Eco friendly laundry liquid that gave my laundry a funky smell.
From one box of soap and a packet of washing soda i will get 4 buckets full of homemade laundry soap, each giving around 25 washes giving me an average total of 100 washes. Needless to say, i won't be buying laundry soap anymore. It's probably best to add this laundry soap in the drum with the clothes if you have a front loader like i do, i found that there was some left in the drawer of my machine.
I'm also using the washing soda to wash my dishes, reducing my packaging further. 1 tbsp is enough for a sink full of water. I'm having a hard time convincing my husband that he doesn't need bubbles to get the dishes clean though. To try to combat this i have poured some of the washing soda into an old jar and put in a spoon with a label saying '1TBSP ONLY', i wonder if it will work?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

lindsey clare said:
it's not only washing soda, it's got soap added already. there is a Lectric powder which is just washing soda, but this blue one you have pictured is the soap version! so i don't think you need to add soap.. at least i don't, and my clothes always come out clean and fresh-smelling! i add a few drops of eucalyptus oil to help add a nice scent too.