Washing powder 2

For some reason this was not posted till now, but it was written months ago… Ok today I was down to 2-3 scoops so I decided to try out the bicarb soda, soap and washing soda recipe I found on the internet here, which was recommended by another blogger who has a blog called Caleigh's Corner.

HOMEMADE LAUNDRY SOAP

16 cups baking soda (8, 4, 2)

12 cups washing soda (6, 3, 1.5 )

8 cups of grated castile soap/pure soap (4, 2, 1)

10-12 drops lavender essential oil

Brackets mine, as it makes quite a huge amount and I only had 2 bars of soap left. I did not worry about the essential oil, as stated before... I am happy with adding the water soluble stuff to the load as I go.

We do not have castile soap yet but I noticed you can get some very reasonably priced at chemist warehouse.

This time I used the thermomix, maybe I should have used a mask as the dust particles got into my nose and throat. However I cannot be blaming the washing powder entirely as well I am quite afraid of toads... earlier today, I found a dead one in our house and screamed like a banshee. Honey thought I was being attacked by an axe-murderer and came in to find just a smallish huge dead toad. I cringe just typing this stuff.

Results

The clothes smelled fresh straight out of the washing machine. Slightly different to the last “potion”. But looked just as clean and smelled pretty much the same when dry as the previous powder did.

The wet clothes felt slightly different, and dry were perhaps a little starchier. I will play with the amounts of powder to see if I can tweak the perfect wash.

Today

The last powder I made lasted until today. I was keen to see how this worked using pure soap Coles brand. This little beauty has really impressed me as a stain remover. It appears to be palm-oil free too. I used the 4:3:2 ratio, however the 3 blocks of soap I wizzed made slightly more than 2 cups and I added the lot. I will keep you posted as to how it cleans the clothes.

Updates

The Castile soap was better for general stain removal. There are 2-3 articles of clothes that I constantly have to check before popping them in the wash for stains. When I remember to check them, and rub some soap with water on the stains they come out clean, otherwise the stains do not come out in the wash. This could be the fabric that the clothes are made from, I even gave in and bought a spray stain-remover to save time and they were still spotty.

There was no marked difference between the Coles and Woolies brand pure soap, the Coles soap smelled slightly better when the box was opened but the clothes smelled the same after a wash.

Tweaks

I noticed on a few recipes that citric acid was used in the home made washing powders. You had to be careful not to add too much as it would interfere with the salt and washing soda balance. I had heaps of powder left so I decided to add some vinegar with the wash. I had somewhat better overall results, however the 3 garments were still a problem. Making sure the soap was ground to a fine powder was also recommended. I wizzed the rest of my powder for 20 seconds and the results are at the side.

I added vinegar (about half a bottle) to an empty bottle of water soluble eucalyptus oil, with a cap full of 100% eucalyptus oil and have been adding that to the wash instead of the customary cap of eucalyptus oil. This has saved money on eucalyptus and still leaves the clothes smelling fresh.

Updates

Stain removal is better than other ones I have tried, it worked on a tomato sauce stain without spray, but oily stains are still a problem. Though it’s not quite as good as bought powder, I am looking forward to trying the addition of sard soap and a bar of castile soap. I will halve the powder I have left and add castile to one lot and sard to the other… Several weeks later there was not much difference in the quality of the wash. I did not find the addition of with bar of soap to be particularly more effective in a cold wash as we use.