Laundry Detergent

I've been making this recipe for years and while you can't eat it, it's a handy one to have on this blog.

This recipe is for homemade laundry detergent that is way less toxic of harmful to the environment that what I usually use from the supermarket.

The recipe came from Wendyl Nissen's most recent book. I'm experimenting with making a variety of household cleaners in an effort to reduce the toxic chemicals we use on a daily basis. The hardest part was finding the 'feel good' soap base. By 'feel good' I mean fair-trade, natural, organic...Dr Bromner's castile soap.

Laundry Detergent

1/2 bar or 60 grams of castile or vege based or sunlight soap, grated (I used sunlight soap since I had brought it ages ago with this in mind)

1.5 litres of water

1/2 cup washing soda (supermarket in washing section)

1/4 cup borax (found at a bulk bin place on dominion Road)

1 litre of hot water

5 litres of hot water

Place soap and first quantity of water in saucepan and heat on low till soap dissolves.

Stir in washing soda and borax. Stir for a few minutes till thickened and remove from heat. (If using castile or vege based soap it won't thicken...but will over night)

Add 1 litre of hot water to a bucket, add soap mixture an stir well.

Add the other 5 litres of hot water and stir well.

When cold add 20 drops of lavender oil.

Pour into bottles.

Use about half a cup per load of washing.