Monday, June 4, 2012

Homemade laundry powder recipe (just 2 ingredients)


I used to make laundry washing powder using my friend Heather's recipe. It worked really well, but when I moved to Wellington I couldn't find any borax to make it with so I went back to buying my laundry powder.

Recently my friend Jodie told me that she makes her own laundry powder with just two ingredients - washing soda ash and sunlight soap. Jodie gets her washing soda ash in 1kg packs from the supermarket. I bought 10kg through my brother-in-law's chemical company. Sunlight soap is pretty standard in the laundry section of most supermarkets.

I'm happy to report that Jodie's recipe works great! I've used it on cloth nappies as well as regular clothes and it works just as well as any store-bought laundry powders I've tried.

And one of the advantages of making it without borax is that I can reuse the gray water on my garden and it's much gentler on the plants.

Ingredients
  • 1kg washing soda ash (powder form)
  • 1 bar sunlight soap

Method
1. Grate soap or whiz it into fine particles using a food processor. (I chopped mine up first before putting it in the food processor to make it easier on my machine.)

2. Mix soap particles through the washing soda ash.

3. Use 1T per full load of laundry. If washing nappies, add 1/4c white vinegar to the laundry softener compartment to reduce odour.

10 comments:

  1. That's a good idea...would probably be too bubbly for a front loader though wouldn't it?

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    Replies
    1. I'm not sure how front loaders work sorry Ang. Does anyone else know?

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  2. That's great. I am just about to try to make liquid detergent but think I'll give this a go first. By 1 T do you mean tablespoon? Sorry if sill question.
    Thanks Michelle.

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    Replies
    1. Hey Michelle, yes 1 tablespoon - that's my shorthand.

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  3. If it gets a little gloopy and that bothers you a paint stirring attachment attached to a drill works a treat for mixing it perfectly

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  4. Hi Emma

    Can you use other soap rather than Sunlight Soap? I see that there are some cheaper soaps?

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    Replies
    1. Hi, I haven't tried it but my gut feeling is no, since sunlight soap is a specific laundry soap. If you'd like to experiment, you could try making a smaller amount with a different soap.

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  5. sard wonder soap might be a good option?

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  6. Hi Emma,

    You can use Knights Castile, Johnsons baby soap or any vegetable based soaps.

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  7. Been using for 2 months with @5mL either lavender, titree or eucalyptus oil. Stinky clothes I soak in vinegar & water for about an hour plus first. No fabric softner needed including towels. But if you leave them on the line all day in the hot sun after theyve dried they will become a bit stiff(but not as bad as store bought powder).

    ReplyDelete

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