Friday 13 August 2010

Homemade laundry powder

While looking at Sue's lovely blog The Quince Tree and seeing the mountains of laundry she had to do, I was reminded how glad I am that I make my own laundry powder.  I dislike commercial laundry powders which are usually over scented, very harsh and in my opinion over priced.  I had the idea of making my own laundry powder, something that would be a little bit kinder to the environment and the pocket.  After looking at some ideas at Green Living Australia, I came up with a variation of their recipe which works for me.                                                                                    

 Homemade Laundry Powder

1 x 1kg bag of Lectric Washing Soda
1 x 1kg bag of Lectric Soda Crystals
2 x 500g boxes of McKenzie's Bi-carb Soda
1 x 100g bar of Velvet Pure Soap grated



Place some newspaper down on the laundry bench or table (it gets messy) and grate soap into a bowl.  Place all ingredients into a large bowl and mix thoroughly.  

 It will look something look like this.

Store in an air tight plastic container. 
Makes 3kg of laundry powder. 


I use less than a tablespoon of powder per wash (I have a front load washing machine) and instead of a commercial fabric softener which just puts a coating on your clothes and towels, I put about 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and a few drops of water soluble lavender oil in the rinse compartment.  The clothes come out clean and smelling beautiful.


Click on the above photos to read about the benefits of using Lectric Soda Crystals (I use for water softening properties) and Lectric Washing Soda.

As I make quite a few of my own cleaning products and facial/body moisturisers, I've bought inexpensive separate equipment to use for these purposes.  In the laundry cupboard are:

2 plastic measuring jugs, small and large
wooden spoons, a selection
spatulas, a selection
plastic measuring cups
plastic measuring spoons
a grater
1 glass pyrex measuring jug
1 medium plastic bowl
1 large stainless steel bowl


If you are doing laundry today, I hope the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing so you can hang your clothes out in the fresh air to dry.

Have a great day,
Anne  :-)















                                                                                                                

3 comments:

  1. What a great idea, I think I will have a go when I finish my current supply. How does it go with grease on farmer's work pants?! My husband always has at least one knee greasey dirt, if not two! love Aubrey

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  2. I haven't tried it on grease but I have used it as a pre-wash soaker and was very happy with the results. I'll get DH (darling husband) to grease up some work clothes and see what happens. :-)
    Love,
    Anne

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  3. Hi Sweet Anne: Thanks for stopping by PosyLinda today. I appreciate it. I've enjoyed reading your posts and looking at the lovely photos. We have some wild parrots that visit my office on Singer Island from time to time. I've heard that they escaped from the Miami zoo a few years ago after a hurricane. My they can be loud! The chinese lantern and hellebore blossoms are so cool. I'm going to have to look into those. Thanks again, Linda and Posy too!

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