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okay, here is the long awaited recipe for my world-famous homemade laundry soap. it works as well as any environmentally friendly laundry soap, probably not as well as something like Tide, but i wouldn't know really because i don't use Tide or other detergents. i got the frame of reference for my recipe from tipnut .com (http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/) but originally i couldn't find the super washing soda, so i tried the just baking soda recipe...then when i found the washing soda, i made my next batch from memory--an ephemeral thing--eventually i discovered that i had remembered it wrong, but my soap works, and now i can claim it as my own recipe. so, go inaccurate memory!
there are photos of the different ingredients and what the stages look like here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hedgenettle/sets/72157619580250226/ sorry, but it's too much of a pain in the butt to re-upload them all here, just go to the link if you want to see them.
you will need:
a big bucket (i usually use one of those cat litter buckets, which i would guess is around 2 1/2 gallons)
something to stir with (i use my big hefty soap making spatula, but a wooden spoon would be fine)
a double boiler of some kind (a pot or bowl over another pot of boiling water) make sure whatever you're using to melt the soap in is non-reactive (glass/stainless steel/enamel)
a bar of soap (this should be real soap, not moisturizing bars or anything that is super-fatted (super-fatted means they add extra oil to it to make it more moisturizing) i use plain bulk glycerin soap, but you could use something like ivory or whatever, as long as it's actually soap)
baking soda--1 cup
washing soda--1 cup (this is usually found in the laundry aisle by the borax and whatnot, but it can be hard to find. i got mine at winco in springfield. i *think* it's the same as soda ash, like you would use for dying fabric, so you could probably find it at art and craft stores. you can also order it online.)
2 gallons of water
essential oil (optional, but recommended)
the steps:
1) get your 2 gallons of water in the bucket.
2) prepare your soap: if it's glycerin you can just chop it up. if it's other soap you have to grate it.
3) put a little of the water into your double boiler and add the soap.
4) double boil it to melt the soap (i don't know how long it takes with non-glycerin, but my version is really quick)
5) while your soap is melting, measure your baking soda and washing soda and add them to the bucket of water. stir.
6) now your soap should be melted. add it to the bucket.
7) stir some more.
8) leave it alone.
9) go back and stir it throughout the duration of it's cool-down...like, several times over the day or something. if you don't want to stir it all the time, you should have an immersion blender. if you have an immersion blender: leave it alone and go back to it later that night or the next day and immersion blend the crap out of it, so it's not too chunky.
10) bottle it up (wine bottles make for a classy presentation, but vinegar bottles, milk jugs, old detergent bottles, etc. all work fine. if you are using an opaque container--i know this seems obvious, but keep it in mind when you are actually pouring!!!--keep checking the level as you pour, or it makes a big overflowed mess)...i find it handy to pour my soap into a funnel placed in my container of choice...and if there are a few chunks that didn't get stirred or blended away, you can poke them through with a chopstick.
and a few notes:
use 1/2 cup for an average full load. for a super dirty load, or diapers, use 1 cup.
it doesn't look like store-bought detergent. it looks like a big, thick, lumpy glop. it's not smooth and clear and liquidy.
if you put the melted soap water into the bucket with the sodas before you add the rest of the 2 gallons of water, sometimes it fizzes all funlike...so if you want that, add the water after the soap.
there was some discussion on the tipnut forum about the likelihood of mold growing in the laundry soap. i go through mine so fast, that i doubt it's even an issue, but i've taken to adding essential oil to the soap after it's all cooled (1/2 a teaspoon) which should prevent the growth of mold and will leave your clothes smelling nice, if you line dry. if you machine dry, the e.o. evaporates. if you are REALLY worried about it, but still want to make your own laundry soap, check out the tipnut links for powdered soap recipes.
i think that's it. please comment or e mail or call me if you have questions or i left out any glaringly obvious details. this is REALLY easy and FAST and it will save you A LOT of money, especially if you are buying the environmentally friendly kind. which reminds me, i was never able to find good information on the sustainability/environmental impact of baking soda and washing soda...but they are mined or created in a lab, so, yeah, not ideal. but probably more ideal than buying and using petroleum based detergents, especially since you'd be getting a new bottle every time, and that bottle was shipped from somewhere far away, etc. and the "environmentally friendly" ones probably have pretty similar ingredients as mine. so, unless you're growing your own soapnuts and washing in your rain barrel, and filtering it through some gravel and then using the greywater to water your soapnut plants...it's probably the best convenient laundry soap option out there.
enjoy.
i know i said i would post the recipe today, but guess what? i was really busy having an awesome day without time to blog! so, i will post it tomorrow. in the meantime if you are just dying to get started, you can look at my flickr page and see all the photos and read their blurbs and get inspired.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hedgenettle/sets/72157619580250226/
i am grateful for:
1) my art department adviser (he cleared me for advance registration! woot!)
2) the time rodney spends with the kids
3) my car
4) my dad's gas card
5) food
so, i've mentioned flickr a bit in passing, mainly as a way to let the rellies know where they can see pictures of the kids...but today i'm going to tell you why flickr is awesome and what i do with it (besides post pictures of the kids for the rellies.)
it's free to join flickr, so you can upload photos and look at other people's photos and check out groups, if you want. you get 100 MBs of uploading goodness, which suffices for the casual photo uploader. if you get hooked on it, like me, you can upgrade to a "pro" account, for $24.95/year (rodney upgraded my account for me a couple of days ago, as an early birthday present--thanks, hunny!)...this allows you unlimited uploads, access to statistical data about which of your pics get the most views (and other info, i haven't figured it all out yet)...i quickly learned that would be a necessity for me, if i wanted to participate in a few of the themed groups (i do).
initially i joined so that i could participate in the "bend the rules sewing" flickr group--an offshoot of the awesome book of that title, by amy karol (http://www.angrychicken.typepad.com)...and in my playing around i discovered thousands upon thousands of groups...if you can think of something, there is a group for it (well, almost, i tried to find a group dedicated to dead stuff as art/home deco--inspired by this post of loki's-- http://lokikohall.blogspot.com/2009/01/dead-envy.html--and couldn't find one, but that is a pretty obscure and random thing to search for). if you don't find a group dedicated to a topic you MUST photograph and share, then you can start your own group.
so, by joining groups, like one dedicated to a hobby of yours, for example--in my case, sewing/crafting--you start to see other people's photos, and their photos that are posted to the group link back to their photostream, so you can see all of their pictures (if they are set to be public--you can set your pictures to be private, and then only people you approve can view them, if you want)...and you can see what other groups they belong to...and then it's more six degrees of photo heaven. you may stumble across an awesome group you never knew existed and have to join. i did.
my latest discovery is a monthly scavenger hunt group http://www.flickr.com/groups/monthlyhunt/pool/ . i fell instantly in love with this idea: at the beginning of the month a list is posted of 20 words or phrases--sometimes there is a theme, sometimes not--and the members of the group are challenged to post one picture for each item on the list, either something they go out and find or something they may already have in their archives. once you complete the twenty item long list, you post a mosaic of your photos, and the group can vote on them, if they want. just for fun. some of this month's words/phrases: piquant, umami, crisp, bitter, salty, sweet, tomb, illegal, kanji, pink slip, maximum efficiency...it is the absolute perfect group for me, as it has cool words, awesome pictures, is mentally challenging without being impossible or overly time-consuming, and it's fun! i love the way it has shifted my thinking, inspired creativity, and brought my camera permanently out of the dresser drawer. my camera now goes everywhere with me--i never know when i might find the perfect photograph!
there are groups dedicated to various forms of 365--you take a photograph every day. some of them are self portrait groups, themed groups, assigned item groups, etc. etc. i haven't quite mustered up the nerve to join one of the 365 groups yet, but i do plan to. i love the idea of that small promise, to take a photograph every day. i love seeing what people come up with, how people capture their days, their lives.
it's a strange, world-wide community of people who, like me, love photographs.
today i am grateful for:
1) vesta doing the dishes
2) hazel folding the laundry
3) jubal not being insanely clingy
4) the pleasure of cooking meals
5) the radish sprouts in my new garden bed
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