Well, my first experiment in going natural was a success. So far anyway! 😉 I tested it on 2 loads of laundry and it seems to get the job done! Plus it was a fun experience to make my own. I felt so little-house-on-the-prarie-ish, ha ha!
Here’s what I used. Dr. Bronner’s Natural Castile Soap which I got at Trader Joe’s for $9.99, cheaper than Amazon. (by the way, I have NO clue about the label on this thing! It seems to be some kind of religious something or other written ALL over this label, but for the life of me I couldn’t make out what it was getting at or which religion it was, so if you know, do tell. I’d be interested to know.) Baking Soda, and Salt. Plus an empty milk jug for storage. 🙂
First combine the baking soda and salt with 2 cups of water in a pot and warm just to dissolve. Here’s the baking soda…
… and the salt…
… and because I didn’t pay attention, I put the soap in too, oops!
Finally, the water.
Stir it up and warm… I think I should have done this longer, but I was concerned about the soap being in there. Probably no biggie, but I wasn’t sure what the heat would do to it. Ha!
Pour into jug, and all over jug while you try to take a photo of it pouring. 😉 Next time I will use a funnel!
Fill the jug the rest of the way with water.
Voila! Detergent! You should get close to 65 loads out of this lil jug! Sweet!
A couple of notes and I’ll put the ‘recipe’ at the bottom. I used the hemp peppermint castile soap this time around because it’s what they had at Trader Joe’s. I have ordered Sal-Suds which, I’ve read, is basically the same concept. I can use the sal suds for dish detergent and other cleaning products too. This batch of laundry soap smelled NICE and minty! I liked that a lot, but I’d rather use this minty soap for personal care products down the line. The minty smell lasted through the wash, but disappeared in the dryer still leaving the cloths fresh smelling. Nice! Pretty sure I’m going to like this stuff. Oh, and I added a splash of white vinegar to the rinse cycle.
Here’s the “recipe” that I got from THIS blog.
1 cup castile liquid soap (Dr. Bronner’s or Mountain Rose Herbs are good choices as they are organic and main ingredients are coconut oil & olive oil) OR Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds
2 cups water
1/3 cup salt
1 cup baking soda or washing soda
Combine soda and salt with 2 cups water in a pot. Warm till mostly dissolved. Poor into gallon jug add soap. Fill jug with water. 1/4 c. detergent per load of laundry.
Try it, you may get hooked, like me! 🙂