I'm on a journey to find health and happiness through a more holistic and green lifestyle.

I find the world to be abrasive. =) That is to say, I feel the need to armor myself, physically and emotionally, in order to face life. Don't we all? Maybe. For whatever reason, it has become a priority in my life to rid my immediate environment of irritating things. And I'm sensitive! So there is much work to be done. But. I have thought for a long time that the things I come in contact with every day, and the stuff used to clean and maintain these things, need to be gentle and non-toxic. I have had eczema my entire life. For a long time I just dealt with it, and accepted that sometimes it's bad, and sometimes it's not, and that it will fluctuate a lot. Gradually over time I have come to find that certain things, fabrics, cleansers, materials, are more irritating to my skin than others. Stress can exacerbate it. In more recent times, I have realized that every aspect of my life improves when I improve conditions for my skin. Hah! What a concept! Thus my (long time) interest in going green, and my more recent desire to live a more holistic lifestyle. (I think I've felt a desire for a long time to live in a harmonious way with myself, my surroundings, and nature, but didn't have a name for it.) Anyhow, this blog is a journal of my trials and errors, and basic crooked path to find a balanced and peaceful existence for myself and my family. Thanks for your interest! I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Laundry Detergent recipe

One of my most tried and true green efforts recently has been with the home-made laundry detergent, so I thought I'd share the recipe. First, a quick pros and cons list:

Pros: 

All-natural
Biodegradable
Safe
Gentle
Effective
Reuse containers

Cons:

Hardens and needs to be broken up
Occasionally lumps of detergent remain in wash after load is done
Recipe makes small amount of detergent

Recipe:

1/4 cup castile soap (I like peppermint)
1 cup baking soda
1 cup washing soda
1 cup white vinegar

Mix the castile soap with the powders. Add vinegar (it will foam up, then settle down, just mix). Stir til completely combined. 

At this point I leave it, and it hardens. If you keep mixing through the hardening process you can break it up right away. It becomes a lumpy powder. I have yet to perfect the process so it all gets crunched up to a thin powder, but honestly, I don't have time at the moment, and it works well anyhow. 1/2 cup in a regular size load does the trick. Makes about 5 loads worth...something like that.

I've been using this detergent for weeks now, with great results.

If you try it, let me know what you think.
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousDecember 6, 2009 at 11:47 AM

    Oh how cool! Can you tell me what Castile soap is? Where can I get it? I'd love to try this.
    :)

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  2. DaisDecember 6, 2009 at 12:21 PM

    From GreenLivingTips.com:

    What is castile soap?

    Castile soap isn't a brand but a type of soap made exclusively from vegetable oil rather than animal fat or synthetic substances. The purists feel it should be made from olive oil but there's a wide variety of castile variants that use oil from plants such as coconut and jojoba. The simple nature of the soap means a lesser enviromental impact due to reduced waste stream during manufacture and also faster biodegradability.

    While castile soaps can have additional synthetic ingredients, usually you'll find if it's marketed under that name, it's a fairly natural sort of product.

    I have had no trouble finding castile soap (liquid) at the grocery store. At my store, it's near the hand soap pumps and such. There is also castile soap in a bar. I've never used it that way, though. =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. DaisDecember 6, 2009 at 1:51 PM

    By the way, the laundry detergent recipe comes from GreenLivingTips.com as well. =) You can find tons of info on castile soap and many, many recipes at this website as well.

    ReplyDelete

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