Yeah, it's been a while. I guess not finishing my August goal really threw me off. I'm not sure what I'm going to end up doing in September, so it will be Random stuff. I really should've posted random things I've already done, but well, I haven't. This month will really be focused on getting a job, and education regarding getting a job. But there's always stuff to do.
Today, I noticed I was getting low on laundry detergent. Okay, I really wasn't that low, because I still have plenty for today--which is going to be a mega-washing day. Most of my clothes get air-dried on drying racks and some laundry lines I've hung in my basement utility room. I should put an aside note here that my basement does not have full-height (8') ceilings, and in my utility room there are pipes (water and gas) and ducts all over. I have maybe 35 feet of line down there between everything. and I have to move around my two drying racks to get to the lines. It's not an easy process by any means, but I'm sticking to it. I save resources and money. Kinda fun when those two work hand-in-hand.
But, laundry soap. The point of this post. I made some more. Here's my pile o' stuff to make it.
I used a different recipe from last time, gleaned from the internet. I really like DIY Natural's recipe, because it doesn't call for full boxes. But other recipes I've seen online call for additives that I kinda wanted to play with. Last time I made it, I used the DIY Natural's recipe (using some hypoallergenic soap that I realized I hated the smell of). It worked just fine, so feel free to use that recipe. I just liked adding the other two items in often enough that I decided to just include them in the soap. I'm not sure they make any difference, because I'm just not that dirty of a person, but I'm also an overkill person, so I overkilled it.
My recipe this time called for:
3 cups of Borax
3 cups of Washing Soda
2 cups of Baking Soda
2 cups of Oxi Clean
3 4oz bars of Kirk's Original Coco Castile Soap*
Some day, I fully intend on trying bar laundry soap. Not sure why, though, because, like I mentioned above, DIY Natural's soap worked just fine for me!
That's the perfect amount, it turns out. It fit exactly in the canister I use to keep my laundry detergent in.
It's pretty simple. I dumped the powdered ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and then grated the bar soap on top. Normally I would've grated the soap first, but I wanted to make sure I had enough borax and washing soda before I started, so I measured those first and figured I may as well get the rest of it done while I was in the mode. The grating of the soap takes the longest. Then I mixed it a little by hand, and then put it--batch by batch--into the food processor to fully break up the soap (because there's always one chunk of soap that's too small to grate, plus grating causes little curly pieces). If you don't have a food processor, just grating with a fine grater works. I'd probably take the small chunks to use in the shower.
Here's my story. I have a front-loading, HE washer. The detergent dispenser with my washer has the option for liquid and powder, so I'm lucky that way. If your washer only has the option for liquid, you can make your own liquid soap. I'd suggest the Simple Dollar's recipe, only because I like the blog, and the guy has been using it for years (and he has three small children, so he knows a thing or two about needing do laundry regularly!).
I should also note that I use vinegar in place of fabric softener. Of course, since I line dry my clothes, I'm less concerned about static electricity. (My sheets and towels go through the dryer. My lines aren't long enough for my queen-sized waterbed sheets, and I don't feel like my towels would get dry fast enough hanging. I'm short enough on line-drying space. If I ever got an outdoor clothesline, that would change when the weather was nice!)
