Chemical Free Project #1

The weekend was a tough one. Pain dominated both days and rendered me mostly useless. But I had a goal, just one thing I really wanted to get done, and I did. I made and used an all natural laundry detergent. Here's how it went.

I started by putting 4 cups of water in a large old pot I would NOT even think about cooking food in. Then adding 1 bar of natural soap all chopped up. I heated and stirred it until the soap was all melted/dissolved into the water.

Then I added 11 Liters of water to one of those big 5 gallon buckets, along with 1 cup of borax, 1 cup of washing soda and the soapy/water mixture from the stove.

Then I stirred the mixture up. Once the borax and washing soda were dissolved the mixture had amilky liquidy gel like consistency, which meant it was done.

Super easy. Then it was time to give it a try. I decided to try the sheets first. I added about 1/3 of a cup of my homemade detergent and let it rip.

To my delight it went well. The sheets came out of the washer with no scent but yet clean. I put them through the dryer as usual and honestly they were just as clean and fresh as every other washing I had done with Tide. So I washed a load of darks, same thing. The next day I did a load of towels. I'm happy to report that all loads went equally well. Considering how cheap it was to make this HUGE bucket of detergent and how well it worked, I can't imagine I'll ever buy laundry detergent again.

The success of this switch has added fuel to my efforts to cut back on the amount of chemicals I use in 2013. I think my next project will be finding something to put in the dishwasher. To be continued...