laundry soap!!

not only did we make our own laundry soap, we also made a multi-purpose cleaner, glass cleaner and yoga mat cleaner!

woot!

green, eco-friendly, cheap, and yummy.

most the recipes were from an old issue of mary jane's farm magazine. the yoga mat recipe was from re-nest.



for the powdered laundry soap..........
1 bar (4-6oz) castile soap. grated.
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda (sodium carbonate)
1 cup baking soda
essential oils
.............. recommend use is 1/4 - 1/2 cup per load.

all of the ingredients can be found at most grocers or discount stores. walmart had the washing soda............. which is sodium carbonate............. in their pool care section (weird, right?). i have seen it at our grocery store in the detergent aisle. so, you might have to hunt it down, but it should be readily available.

i guess the essential oils would be the hardest ingredient to find. try your local natural food store...... like a whole foods or sprouts. i have a lovely collection of some "essential" essential oils (lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint, tea tree, lemongrass, etc), for occasions like this!





yes, i grated the castile soap in our food processor. it was vibram boy's idea! genius! really..... it worked amazingly well! and as vibram boy said........"why not? it's just soap?" :)

the recipe called for unscented castile soap. we used lavender anyways........... but, i also knew that lavender would be one of our base scents. remember, a bar of castile soap ... not liquid .... this recipe is for a "powder" laundry detergent.



mixed all the dry ingredients together.





after we made the laundry soap, robbo took it upon himself to keep going ...... and mixed a glass cleaner and multi-purpose cleaner too! (cute, huh?) we had empty spray bottles.... which were perfect.

and since doing hot yoga, i've been meaning to make a yoga mat cleaner. so, it was perfect timing. i used lavender and tea tree essential oils. tea tree and lavender are both naturally anti-bacterial. those mats need it!

yoga mat cleaner............
- 1 part warm water with 3 parts white vinegar

- add 8 - 12 drops of essential oil like eucalyptus, lemongrass, lavender, mint or tea tree oil.

original recipe at re-nest.

this is all part of our process of living a primal, sustainable lifestyle. as we run out of our conventional cleaners and soaps, we are starting to replace them with homemade products. no more sodium laurel sulfate, parabens, pthalates, harsh chemicals and who knows what else.

part of me is ready to throw out all the store bought, harsh soaps, cleansers and lotions. but, conserving and not wasting.... is just as important. so, i will use what i have until i have tilted my bottles upside down and used q-tips to clean out every last drop.

my next goal is also to get my laundry soap to smell like caldrea's basil and blue sage.... mmmmmmmm

happy sunday.
coley

p.s. so far, the cleansers all seem to work.