Another Step in Green Cleaning

Slowly but surely over the years I have been transitioning away from chemical cleaners and bathroom items in my quest to become more environmentally friendly.  To date I have transitioned to using only castile soaps in the shower like Dr Bronner's or Dr Woods.

I use vinegar and baking soda on all my counter top, mirrors, toilets and pretty much anything that needs cleaning or scrubbing.  One problem still vexed me was the laundry.  At first I was at a loss of alternatives to  standard chemical ridden laundry detergent.  So when store bought solutions became available to me I was excited to try them out.  The first one I tried was Ecos all natural laundry detergent.  I really liked it and it did seem to be effective but the cost of is was prohibitive.  I live on a budget like most Americans and spending that much on a laundry soap was uncomfortable.

I have since moved onto to a different type of laundry detergent by a company called Norwex called Ultra Power Plus.  While it is a effective laundry detergent it is expensive like Ecos and as such is hard for me to justify as a frugal environmentalist.

Now that the Norwex detergent is running out I am coming to the point where I need to either find a replacement or make my own.  In the spirit of being self sufficient and frugal I decided to make my own using borax, washing soda, and castile soap.

Laundry Detergent-Liquid

• 1 Bar Soap (I use this castile soap) 
• 1 cup Washing Soda 
• 1 cup Borax 
• Hot Water 
• Measuring Cup 
• Cheese Grater 
• 5 Gallon Bucket 
• Big Metal Cooking Pot 
• Long Wooden Spoon 
• Optional: 35-40 drops of essential oil (tea tree, lavender etc…) I chose tea tree oil.

Must Have Laundry Ingredients

Step One: Grate your soap with a cheese grater. This is probably the most work you will do in the entire process. But afterwards your cheese grater will be really clean!

Step Two: Bring big pot of water (about half full) to a boil, and then slowly stir in your grated soap.

Step Three: Once the soap is melted, reduce heat and slowly add in the Washing Soda while stirring with the wooden spoon. At this point a small reaction will occur, and your mixture will try to bubble over a little in your pot. This is where the wooden spoon comes in handy. Lay the wooden spoon across your pot, and then your mixture won’t boil over and make a mess.

Step Four: Add in your Borax to the pot while stirring. Once everything is blended and melted, remove from heat.

Step Five: Fill your five gallon bucket half-way with hot water. Add your soap mixture from the pot to your bucket of water.

Step Six: At this point you can add in your optional essential oil, and stir the mixture really well with your wooden spoon.

Step Seven: Once everything is well-blended, fill the bucket the rest of the way with water and then put the lid on. Allow to cool and sit overnight.

Finished Product

Step Eight: After sitting overnight, your mixture will become a gel-like goop, and that means it’s ready to use! At this point you can transfer some of the soap to clean and empty smaller bottles (old laundry detergent bottles or milk jugs), so that it’s easy to use every day. Shake/stir the mixture before using in your washing machine. Use one cup or less of “gel-like goop” per load.