Tonight it was time for "DIY Laundry Soap". The source of the directions come from the Sew Green blog.
The ingredients were easy: a bar of pure soap, washing soda, and a bucket. I picked up the washing soda a few weeks ago at Fred Meyer in the cleaning supplies section. I should have looked for Ivory soap or something else really plain, but I didn't think of it all the times I'm in Freddies or anywhere else, like Bi Mart, and since I was thinking about it today while at Grocery Outlet, I ended up with Dial because they didn't have Ivory. Or anything else without a rather strong smell. That I'm not sure I like. Oh well... I'll give it a try.
So you grate the bar of soap into a saucepan and cover with water to heat up and melt (stirring periodically). Pour the resulting sludge into the empty bucket and add a cup of washing soda. Add hot water and stir up, adding more hot water until the bucket is full.
Okay, so the directions left out some information, such as, How big a bucket?? Since I've had these directions for four years or so, I decided at some point that a bucket such as those used for a gallon of coconut oil would be perfect! And since I use a proliferate amount of coconut oil, buying it by the gallon turned out to not be a problem for me.
Here is a picture of my full bucket:
And here is the full bucket sitting on top of the dryer, next to the box of powdered laundry detergent I've been using.
Since Jake tells me powdered detergent is not a good idea for wash machines or dish washers when one is on a septic system, I thought it would be a good idea to make a shift. Now if only I can find a DIY dishwasher detergent...
