I know this has been in my newsletter before, but I am posting this to pinterest, and the easiest way for me to get it there is from my blog! This recipe was shared by Nancy Balance at convention a few years ago and makes a wonderful laundry detergent. It uses Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT baking soda!, Borax All Natural Laundry Booster, and Fels-Naptha soap.
The proportions are
1 Bar of Fels-Naptha
1/2 cup Super Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
I usually make a bunch at a time (6 or 8 bars worth), so I only have to do this twice a year. (Remember that I am almost an empty nester, so not as many clothes to wash!).
You want to get the moisture out of the Fels Naptha, so I unwrap the bars, slice the bars into thirds and then microwave it, 30 seconds at a time, for 3 or 4 minutes. I let them rest a bit between each 30 second blast. The soap will kind of start to puff up.
***It has a strong smell - I actually have an old microwave that someone was getting rid of that I use for this, but if you have a built in, just keep the vent on.***
Once that is done, take it outside (I put mine in the garage, and let it sit until it is cooled off. Then I run it through a food processor to make fine crumbs.
Once that is finished, I add the Super Washing Soda and the Borax and I keep mine either in a ziploc bag or an old plastic container with a lid.
Use 2 Tablespoons per load. If you have a high Efficiency washer, only use 1 teaspoon per load. You do NOT have to use a fabric softener with this detergent!
For this load, I used 8 bars of F-N (.97*8=$7.76), 4 cups of Super Washing Soda (about 1/3 of a box at $3.28=$1.10) and 4 cups of Borax (again, about 1/3 of a box at $3.38=$1.13) for a total of $9.90. Since I only use 2 Tablespoons per load and no fabric softener, this is an economical solution, although that does not factor in my time. I do like the way it cleans, and I like not having to put the fabric softener in.
Try it and you may just find yourself hooked!
Happy Stitching,
Vaune
No comments:
Post a Comment