Home Made Laundry "Detergent"

Works well.

The first time I saw this recipe it was called “moms super laundry sauce”.  OK.  But I’m going to take the liberty to call it Laundry Cream because that is the description.  You can watch the "sauce" video on You Tube.

Most of the recipes I have seen are very similar but I like this one because of the concentration reducing the need for a large container or bucket.



    Laundry Cream Recipe

Left: Blended cream.  Right: Gel prior to blending 

2 x 100gm bars laundry soap.

1 Cup Washing Soda (Sodium Carbonate)

1 Cup Borax

Eucalyptus Oil (optional) 

Grate up soap and dissolve in 6 cups of heated water.  Add dry ingredients and stir till dissolved (no longer gritty).  Leave to cool about 4 hours.

Whiz in a kitchen blender till smooth and creamy.  If it isn't blending very well add a little more water.

Use 2 tablespoons per wash or according to size of load and heaviness of the soiling. Yes it is low sudsing.

 Using coconut oil laundry soap is also perfect for people who have hard water, as coconut soap is used for salt water bathing.  Coconut soap also dissolves a lot easier than tallow based soap like Sunlight soap.  The coconut soap caused the mixture prior to blending, to form a softer gel right through the mix.  Sunlight soap caused the mix to form a denser rubbery gel to form on top of a liquid.  I cut it up and mixed it prior to blending.  I use left over body soap bits (mostly Olive oil and Tallow soap) and coconut oil laundry soap.

If you use coconut soap, it will come out white like pavlova mixture, or tallow soap more cream, like mayo in colour. The cream does “set” and become more ridged though the cream using coconut soap will not thicken up as much as using a beef tallow soap.

I drop mine onto the clothes in a top loading machine.  I also put Eucalyptus oil in the fabric softener dispenser.  You can add it to the cream but there will be no smell by the time the clothes have gone through the rinse cycle.

This costs about $4 and will give you about 60 washes.  I have brought bulk Borax and bigger buckets of Washing Soda from a cleaning outlet and this costs me about $2.50.

If you use fabric softeners please do some reading on the chemicals used and the damage they do.  There are alternatives.

Fabric Softener Ingredients

1.  Alpha-Terpineol– linked to disorders of the brain and nervous system, loss of muscle control, depression, and headaches

2.  Benzyl acetate–Benzyl acetate, linked to cancer of the pancreas

3.  Benzyl alcohol–Linked to headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, depression, as well as disorders of the brain and nervous system

4.  Chloroform– is on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Hazardous Waste list.  Identified as a carcinogen and neurotoxin (toxic to the brain and nervous system)

5.  Ethanol–On the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list.  Causes brain and nervous system disorder

6.  Ethyl Acetate–causes headaches and is on the EPA Hazardous Waste list

7.  Linalool–in studies, this chemical caused loss of muscle coordination, nervous system and brain disorders, and depression

8.  Pentane–causes headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, drowsiness, and depression

Saying that the amount of the chemicals to which a person is exposed is insufficient to cause harm is not supported by studies that show even small amounts of these toxins can have serious effects.  Neither does this take into consideration the combined effect of other toxic chemicals that we are exposed to.

I use sun and wind for the healthiest and best results and economics.

I have never used Soap Nuts but might try them one day just to satisfy my curiosity.