Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Tip of the Week

This week - making your own laundry detergent - environmentally friendly and much less costly than shop bought!

Boil 4 litres of water in a big pan on the stove. Meanwhile grate a bar soap (any soap you like - if you want a specific fragrance, buy a nice soap but you can just use plain unscented white soap).

When water is boiling add soap and stir till melted (careful not to let it boil over)

When soap melted, take off heat and stir in half a mugful of washing soda crystals (you can find them in the laundry ailse of the supermarket - sometimes just called soda crystals). Stir.

Leave pan overnight - it will set to jelly like gloop. When it has, stir it up and pour into a big enough container with a lid to store.

To use put a tablespoonful in the drum of the washing machine and then put the laundry on top. Don't put it in the dispenser drawer or it will block. Don't use fabric conditioner. Put a teaspoonful of white vinegar in the conditioner compartment instead. It won't smell I promise!

If whites start to look a bit grubby put a spoonful of Ecover Laundry "Bleach" in the dispenser drawer as well.

2 comments:

Jammy Jenny said...

You can use soap flakes instead of grating a bar of soap. The Dri-Pak ones aren't scented so ideal for people with sensitive skin. You can also get soap flakes from Boots (their own brand) and Tesco (Granny's brand).

Rachel said...

Thanks. I just lurve chosing my own scent for the detergent and love using Lush soaps (some would say it was a waste of Lush soap!)