Monday, September 30, 2013

Laundry Detergent...so fresh n so clean-clean

Hey Bougie Babes!
Hope all is well and that everyone is living their bougie lives to the absolute fullest!
Last week I put together the homemade laundry detergent and it was awesome! I wanted to wait until I had some other folks try it before I posted about it so there was no bias.  So my testers were my straight no chaser mom, and my friend who I'll call "T.K" to protect her privacy.   I gave them both a sample of the dry/powdered detergent and the liquid and....<drumroll>...they both said it worked great!
The first picture is the liquid (obviously) and that's only about 1/4 of the batch! In true bougie form,  I re-purposed an empty Woolite bottle so I wouldn't use all my quart size mason jars, momma got plans for them.  The second picture is the powdered  - it looks kinda strange I know.
I used it on my dogs bedding and it was clean and fresh but the real test was using it on my 16 year old sons laundry...and again clean and fresh.
Just as a disclaimer, you won't see a lot of bubbles or suds but trust the cleaning power is definitely there.  And only 3 ingredients. The total cost to make was around $7.00 bucks, and a full batch makes 5 gallons of the liquid.  Now because I'm fancy and like to do my own thing, I actually made mine a little more concentrated so I had maybe 3 gallons.
Hope this helps and if anyone is interested the ingredients and directions are as follows:

Ingredients:
2 Cups Arm & Hammer Washing  Soda
2 Cups 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster (has tons of uses)
1 Bar Fels Napa  - its a bar laundry soap. You could also use Zote.  Some recipes suggest using a bar of Ivory or what you have on hand or can get cheap.  I think I'm going to use a bar of Dr. Bronners in my next batch.

Directions:
To Make powdered laundry soap:
1.       Grate the bar soap or mix in food processor until finely ground. Use the soap of your choice. I personally use Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castille Bar Soap because of its exceptional quality, and because it is available in several different natural scents like lavender, tea tree, peppermint, almond and others.
2.       In a large bowl, mix 2 parts washing soda, 2 parts Borax and 1 part grated soap. (Add a few teaspoons of baking soda if desired).
3.       Store in closed container. I keep mine in quart or half gallon mason jars. If you are using a big enough container, you can skip step 2 and just put all ingredients in storage container or jar and shake.
4.       Use 1/2  to 1 cup per load of laundry depending on how badly soiled your clothes are.
To make liquid Laundry Soap:
1.       Grate one bar of soap with cheese grater or food processor.
2.       Put grated soap in pan with 2 quarts water and gradually heat, stirring constantly until soap is completely dissolved.
3.       Put 4.5 gallons of really hot tap water in a 5-gallon bucket (available for free in bakeries at grocery stores, just ask them) and stir in 1 cup of borax and 1 cup of Washing Soda until completely dissolved.
4.       Pour soap mixture from pan into 5-gallon bucket. Stir well.
5.       Cover and leave overnight.
6.       Shake or stir until smooth and pour into gallon jugs or other containers.

7.       Use 1/2 to 1 cup per load.



Later Loves!



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