Homemade natural laundry washing powder
Homemade laundry washing powder
All these recipes are completely natural with no chemicals or toxins, and are safe for the planet and for your family, and those with sensitive skin.
This wasn't quite as easy as I thought it would be, My first 'recipe' worked well enough, but the castille soap bar can be expensive and doesn't go very far, and I couldn't get it to a powder, it was a bit chunky, although it did work.
This is recipe 1.
Then I discovered the wonder of soapnuts!!! There is a seperate blog on these themiracleofsoapnuts, they work fab. and also I found worked with other products I had struggled with, mainly Washing up liquid.
This is recipe 2, (Well it isn't a recipe really, its just the soapnuts) For the soapnut liquid recipe click here basicliquidsoapnutrecipe
Recipe 1.
70gm Castille Soap Bar.
1/2 cup Soda Crystals
1/2 cup Borax substitute (I use substitute, some may use borax, but there is a lot of talk of how eco borax is, so I prefer to use the substitute.)
EO of your choice,
Grate soap bar and then add to blender and add other dry ingredients
Blend till a powder (I struggled with this)
Then add Essential Oils. (I used Geranium and Lavender)
I re-used a plastic chinese take out tub, to store this in.
I used this with my homemade Fabric Conditioner.
You may have better luck with the blending than me, a good option if you don't fancy the soapnuts, but want something natural.
Recipe 2.
You put approx. 6-8 soapnuts in a muslin bag , I find that if washing on a cool wash its best to soak them in a small tub of hot water, just covering the soapnuts for a few minutes, you will see the water go a slightly brown colour, I then add the bag of nuts into the drum on top of the clothes and I put the water in the pre wash section,
I again use this with my homemade fabric conditioner.
Also I make up a similar batch to recipe 1, but without the castile soap, (as the soapnuts now do the part of the soap)
(I use just the 1/2 cup soda crystals and 1/2 cup borax substitute and EO) I use about 2 tbsp and I put this in the traditional powder section of washing machine.
or I add 2 cubes of the frozen soapnuts liquid for an extra boost, I add these to the warm/hot water I softened the soapnuts in, so they melt (not directly in machine, I found if I put it directly into the machine I sometimes got marks on the clothes)
If quite soiled I sometimes put the soda crystal/borax sub. mix directly on the stain and then add white vinegar. this acts as a stain remove, You will see it fizzes give it a dab, then put into washing machine. (This depends on what the stain is made of though, I am doing a bit more research into the best natural stain removers for which stain and let you know!) Always dab stain with COLD water first though if you use warm or hot water it sets the stain!
One of the best things is they are re-usable and compostable, so i use then 5-6 times, then through them into the compost heap, and use some new ones.
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