Re: Make your own laundry soap?
Originally Posted by
Annie Jack
->
Has anyone got a recipe they like? The only one I've found so far is this:
Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap - Front or top load machine
4 Cups - hot tap water
1 soap bar - Sunlight or Linda
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax
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Borax is not something you want to put in the environment (yes, I know it occurs naturally but so does asbestos) can I suggest a much better recipe:
Laundry Gel
This is an environmentally friendly laundry liquid (especially for those who use their grey water on the garden). It sets to a gel like consistency but a good shake sends it back to a liquid for measuring into the washing machine.
Ingredients
100gram tablet of pure soap (Home Brand seems fine)
250mL (1 metric cup) white vinegar
250mL (1 metric cup) washing soda
15mL Eucalyptus oil (about three teaspoons)
10 litres of water
Instructions
1) Grate the soap (metal cheese grater does it well) and put in saucepan with 2 litres of water and heat until boiling
2) Add washing soda and stir until dissolved
3) Add white vinegar and eucalyptus oil
4) Heat half the remaining water and stir into mixture then add the remaining cold water. Stir well.
5) Put into containers and allow to cool before capping
At step 5 you can add a few drops of perfume such as an essential oil but personally I never bother.
Use
I find that 1 to 1.5 cups are fine for a normal wash but experiment to see what suits you and your machine, I dilute it in a bucket before adding to the washing machine (a top loader) but I do that anyway with all laundry liquids and powders so it may not be necessary.
It came from here
(Borax was added to the Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC) candidate list on 16 December 2010.)