I am grateful simply for having hot water that now comes out of my tap to wash dishes in. We had to boil water for dishes, for months, until we figured out how to repair the hot water heater without money. A dishwasher seems like a far away dream and not really a necessity for a family of two w/ occasional guests. The Kid, has one in her apartment and uses it as a time saver. She's always in need of dish powder and her college kid budget is tight. I now make it for her at 1/2 the price or less, and she reports adding plain white vinegar to the rinsing agent dispenser clears any white spots that may occur.
She was out of cleaning supplies, so I suggested using some of the dish powder to clean a stained counter top and found it makes a great cleaning powder, though not on easily scratched surfaces. Her sink, toilet, tub, formica counters and the backsplash tiles, sure like it though. Crafty, huh?
MAKES JUST OVER ONE QUART
2 cups of borax powder
2 cups of baking soda
1/2 cup of salt. I bought cheap store brand salt.
Citric acid
I can buy citric acid in bulk locally. I've also seen it in hardware stores near the caning equipment. It's Vitamin C, so if you can't find it in bulk or package, we have used the powder from 2 Vit. C capsules or 2 EmergenC Lemon-Lime packets. The Kid likes the scent of the EmergenC.
Whisk ingredients together. Store in a glass jar, plastic bag, or plastic container of choice. Use just like store bought, and don't forget to add the plain, white distilled vinegar to the rinse to help disolve spots. Use the powder like store- bought scouring powder and rinse well.
I found this recipe online last year but I can't find it again to credit it. Please, if this is yours, thanks!
Showing posts with label Borax. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Borax. Show all posts
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Homemade Laundry Detergent
I know this has nothing to do with gluten free cooking but I am just so amazed by it that I had to share. We have made a decision here. No more laundry detergent bottles will be deposited in landfills or inefficient plastic recycling centers from our house. For the low pretax cost of $10.70 in basic supplies, I am making laundry detergent. Wow, the savings, you must be thinking. Keep reading. For $10.70 in basic supplies, I have paid for almost 5 YEARS of laundry detergent. Each batch costs $2.00, most of which is spent on the soap bar, and makes 5 gallons of basic, really effective laundry detergent concentrate, or, 10 gallons of ready to use. That's 1280 ounces for $2.00. One year's worth for $2.00.
Let's do some more math. Each $2.00 batch makes enough detergent for 180 loads. Because we don't own allot of clothing, we do up to 3 loads of laundry a week, or, 156 loads per year. That makes our new cost for detergent: 0.01, or, a tenth of a penny per load. Based on the on-sale price of 7th Generation's 50 ounce/32 loads unscented laundry detergent of $12.99, we're looking at just over .40 cents per load. Doesn't sound like much until you figure out that .40 cents per load for one year, before tax, is $1662.72. Sales tax here in the Inferno runs close to 10%, so another $160.00+ is saved there.
Making this detergent is an answered prayer for large families, who should know they spend upwards of $2,000.00-5,000.00 per year on this ONE product alone. I found by accident that this is also an effective stain remover by leaving some white kitchen rags that were soaking, overnight. When I woke up and finished the wash, they were the whitest whites I have ever seen, without adding chlorine bleach to the landscaping. It dissolved food stains set in weeks before.
We've committed the $1660.72 in savings to a full year's worth of shares in our local Community Supported Agriculture program. The final math? Financial breathing room to access a diet of 90%+ farm fresh local food just by making this one simple change= Priceless.
YOU NEED
1 bar of Kirk's Hardwater Castile Soap or Fels-Naptha. Fels-Naptha is my second choice...but only because it's scented and contains ingredients I don't normally use.
1 cup of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT baking soda!)
1/2 cup of Borax
4 cups of water
1 new 5 gallon bucket with a lid
A box grater, that you will use for crafts after you use it
1 medium sized 4 quart saucepan. I'm using my very used for crafts and herbal products only pan.
1 paint stick, yard stick, or long handled spoon, for craft use only.
5-15 drops of essential oils if desired: lavender, any citrus oil, tea tree oil, rosemary, cedar, cinnamon or rose are all nice thoughts.
HOW TO MAKE
Grate the soap bar into the saucepan. Place saucepn on the stove, add the water, and turn on the stove, set to medium high. Stir continuously until the soap melts and dissolves. Turn off the stove.
Fill the 5 gallon bucket 1/2 full with hot tap water. Add the melted soap, the borax, and washing powder and still well. When the powders are dissolved... fill the bucket to the top with more hot tap water. Stir well to combine, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
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| We found the best place to fill and mix the bucket, was in the tub, under the water spout. A nice bonus...the splashes cleaned the tub! |
You fill your last ever empty laundry detergent bottle 1/2 full with the concentrate, which is now a gloppy yet effective gel, top it off with water and shake to combine. You can add the essential oils to it now, if you want, to the bucket or the batch in your jug. I'm leaving mine unscented, for the sole purpose of never eating lavender or tea tree oil flavored tortillas created by steaming/resting them in freshly washed kitchen towels. I can scent non kitchen loads when desired.
People have pointed out that natural borax mineral based detergents are filled with salts, thus harmful to some plant life. Here in the desert, which was once an OCEAN floor, our soil is salty anyway. My greywater... waters landscaping. If it watered my food garden, I'd use something else. The plants here just want water, any way they can get it. They and the soil, filter out most harmful compounds. My greywater watered garden is more than thriving...it's lush and flourishing. A friend on the East Coast uses this. She say's the rain washes the salts and the plants thrive near her greywater, too!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax
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