My husband and I are in the midst of a huge project. We’re building a deck and screened in porch. It seemed like a great idea on paper and in my mind’s eye, but it’s bigger than the both of us. It’s so big that after a week of full time work, we had to call in some reinforcements in the person of Nick’s best childhood friend. I’ve been sidelined for the time being as the two of them carefully construct a roof that is several stories off the ground. That’s fine with me, but my excuse for the mess inside the house is gone. Back to cleaning, or as it is, digging out.
Two of my favorite cleaners are vinegar and baking soda. They both have different purposes, but sometimes I get a little over the top in my cleaning efforts and I’ve combined their forces. Recently I learned that’s not such a good idea. It renders them both ineffective. Vinegar is an acid and baking soda is alkaline, so the ingredients neutralize each other. Not that I would have remembered any of those terms from my high school chemistry class. I found this information in an old issue of Body & Soul magazine.
The article suggested dissolving 1 teaspoon of baking soda in hot water in a clean spray bottle and adding a squirt of castile soap. This spray makes a potent, all-purpose cleanser for baseboards, tabletops, and other hard surfaces and it will last several months.
I like to use vinegar and water to clean windows and mirrors, but when I share this advice with others, I’ve been told it leaves streaks. Turns out the streaks are not from the vinegar, they’re from build up created by commercial window cleaners. To get rid of the residue, add a dab of liquid castile soap to ¼ cup vinegar and 1 cup water in a clean spray bottle. After you rid your windows of the buildup you can go back to vinegar and water for regular cleaning. The article also mentioned that the residue left by commercial cleaners may contain 2-Butoxyethanol, a suspected hormone disrupter that could cause developmental and reproductive problems. Just one more reason to get rid of the commercial cleaning agents.
I leafed through some of my old notes from my early days of cleaning organically and found a couple helpful things –
1. Hydrogen peroxide is good for bathroom mold. Leave it on for an hour to let it eat away at the mold and do its job and then wipe it off.
2. If the vinegar smell bothers you, you can mix it with natural oils such as lavender or lemon.
3. Tea cleans hardwood floors and woodwork. (I’d forgotten this one and have never tried it, but I plan to.)
4. Baking soda is great for cleaning electric ovens.
5. Borax works well on walls and floors and for any general purpose cleaning job.
6. Sprinkle baking soda on carpet, let sit 15 minutes and then vacuum to freshen carpet.
7. “Grubby corners – Mix hydrogen peroxide with baking soda, let sit for one hour, spray out.” (I’m guessing that this note refers to bathroom tub corners, but I suppose it would work on any corner. I’m also guessing that you “spray out” with water. It seemed important at the time.)
Tomorrow me and my impact drill are needed back on the job site, thank goodness. So I’ll be off the hook again on the cleaning. Meanwhile, I’m going to look for some grubby corners. If you’ve got any great cleaning tips, please let me know. I’m always looking for ways to do things better, cheaper, and easier.
Showing posts with label borax. Show all posts
Showing posts with label borax. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Homemade Laundry Detergent
I’ve been conducting my own scientific experiments again. I guess I shouldn’t call them “scientific” seeing as I’m not a scientist and they’re really pretty loosy-goosy experiments of my own devising. Several weeks ago I made my own homemade laundry detergent and then I tested it on my kids’ laundry. I tried several formulas and compared them to the brand name “green” detergents I’ve been using. I’ve been using green laundry detergents (no phosphate, biodegradable, good-for-the-environment, etc.) for several years and to be honest, they don’t work as well as the conventional detergents. So I’ve been wondering for some time if there wasn’t a better alternative out there.
In my search for the perfect laundry detergent, I discovered literally hundreds of recipes on the internet. I was going for simple and least messy, so that narrowed it down to powder formulas. The liquid recipes involved adding gallons upon gallons of water to each mixture and then stirring the slop before using. That’s too much work for me so you know I am fundamentally a lazy laundry lady. I was looking for something you just dump in and are done with it. After about 20 loads of laundry, I’m a believer. Making my own laundry detergent is simple and saves me money. I’m tired of choosing between spending a fortune for “green” laundry detergent and feeling guilty. This is a simple solution.
The recipe I chose has three ingredients: Fels Naptha bar soap, Washing Soda, and Borax. Only one of those ingredients was familiar to me, so back I went to the search engine to learn more. (My favorite search engine is www.goodsearch.com because it donates money to your favorite cause with each search. I’ve chosen the National Alopecia Areata Foundation. Whether you’ve got a cause or not, it’s an easy way to make a difference. You can even check to see how much has been donated to date.)
Washing Soda (or Soda Ash) is sodium bicarbonate, which means very little to me. What did peak my interest is that it is effective in removing oil, grease, and alcohol stains. It can also remove wax. It’s most common use is in the manufacturing of glass. Washing Soda is pretty basic stuff and the most popular brand is made by Arm & Hammer. I found it in our local family owned grocery store right next to the Borax. It costs less than $3 a box. And that box has already made 6 batches of detergent and is still more than half full.
Fels Naptha Soap required a bit more research. I found it in the same grocery store and it was just 99 cents a bar. If you aren’t familiar with Fels Naptha (I wasn’t) it’s a bar soap that has been around for a century or more. It’s what your grandmother rubbed on her clothing when she used a wash board to do the laundry. A quick internet search uncovered lots of controversy surrounding the safety of Fels Naptha. Apparently Fels Naptha used to contain lye. Whether it still does or not seems to be debatable. I decided to believe that there isn’t lye in the fels naptha. As you probably already know you can find support for just about any idea you want on the internet. After reading multiple posts and getting completely confused as to the safety of using fels naptha, here’s what I decided - It’s probably safe. I sided with the 71 year old woman who wrote that she’s been using it all her life and is incredibly healthy and never had a skin irritation from it. The primary complaint from the nah-sayers seemed to be that it can irritate skin, shouldn’t be ingested, and the government has never done any kind of testing with fels naptha. All of that said, it’s your call whether you want to use it or not.
Several sources said that you can use other soaps in place of fels naptha and achieve the same results. So I tried this. I spent $4 on a bar of Dr. Bronner’s organic castile soap and mixed up another batch of laundry detergent. It seemed to work fine on towels, but definitely didn’t measure up on children’s clothes covered with grass stains and the unidentifiable stains covering the front of my daughter’s barn jacket.
Homemade Laundry Detergent:
1 cup finely grated fels naptha soap (or any other soap that does not have moisturizers, dyes or perfumes in it)
½ cup Borax
½ cup Washing Soda
Use 2 tablespoons per load. (I know that seems like only a tiny amount of detergent, but truly, that’s all you need.)
The original recipe I found on the internet said to grate the soap in your food processor. I couldn’t do that to my food processor, so I went to Walmart and bought a cheap fine grater for a few bucks and did it by hand. The bar grated easily and quickly. One bar made 2 cups of soap shreds. Each batch of detergent is enough for 16 loads of laundry. I was happy with the results in hot, warm, and cold water.
Considering fels naptha costs $1 a bar and borax and washing soda are less than $3 a box, and each box will make something like 15 recipes. The total cost of a load of laundry is pretty cheap. Add white vinegar as your fabric softener (1/2 cup per load) and you can save plenty making your own laundry detergent.
In all my reading I also saw dish washing soap mentioned as a great pre-treater. Haven’t tried that yet, but I’m sure I will. I know that even my simple version of laundry soap seems like a lot more work than picking up a bottle of detergent at the store, but consider the other costs. It’s easy for me mix up some more detergent if I run low, that saves on gasoline for the trip to the store and the packaging for each batch of detergent. But more than that it’s one more way for me to take care of my family in a way that is good for the planet, good for them, and good for my pocketbook.
In my search for the perfect laundry detergent, I discovered literally hundreds of recipes on the internet. I was going for simple and least messy, so that narrowed it down to powder formulas. The liquid recipes involved adding gallons upon gallons of water to each mixture and then stirring the slop before using. That’s too much work for me so you know I am fundamentally a lazy laundry lady. I was looking for something you just dump in and are done with it. After about 20 loads of laundry, I’m a believer. Making my own laundry detergent is simple and saves me money. I’m tired of choosing between spending a fortune for “green” laundry detergent and feeling guilty. This is a simple solution.
The recipe I chose has three ingredients: Fels Naptha bar soap, Washing Soda, and Borax. Only one of those ingredients was familiar to me, so back I went to the search engine to learn more. (My favorite search engine is www.goodsearch.com because it donates money to your favorite cause with each search. I’ve chosen the National Alopecia Areata Foundation. Whether you’ve got a cause or not, it’s an easy way to make a difference. You can even check to see how much has been donated to date.)
Washing Soda (or Soda Ash) is sodium bicarbonate, which means very little to me. What did peak my interest is that it is effective in removing oil, grease, and alcohol stains. It can also remove wax. It’s most common use is in the manufacturing of glass. Washing Soda is pretty basic stuff and the most popular brand is made by Arm & Hammer. I found it in our local family owned grocery store right next to the Borax. It costs less than $3 a box. And that box has already made 6 batches of detergent and is still more than half full.
Fels Naptha Soap required a bit more research. I found it in the same grocery store and it was just 99 cents a bar. If you aren’t familiar with Fels Naptha (I wasn’t) it’s a bar soap that has been around for a century or more. It’s what your grandmother rubbed on her clothing when she used a wash board to do the laundry. A quick internet search uncovered lots of controversy surrounding the safety of Fels Naptha. Apparently Fels Naptha used to contain lye. Whether it still does or not seems to be debatable. I decided to believe that there isn’t lye in the fels naptha. As you probably already know you can find support for just about any idea you want on the internet. After reading multiple posts and getting completely confused as to the safety of using fels naptha, here’s what I decided - It’s probably safe. I sided with the 71 year old woman who wrote that she’s been using it all her life and is incredibly healthy and never had a skin irritation from it. The primary complaint from the nah-sayers seemed to be that it can irritate skin, shouldn’t be ingested, and the government has never done any kind of testing with fels naptha. All of that said, it’s your call whether you want to use it or not.
Several sources said that you can use other soaps in place of fels naptha and achieve the same results. So I tried this. I spent $4 on a bar of Dr. Bronner’s organic castile soap and mixed up another batch of laundry detergent. It seemed to work fine on towels, but definitely didn’t measure up on children’s clothes covered with grass stains and the unidentifiable stains covering the front of my daughter’s barn jacket.
Homemade Laundry Detergent:
1 cup finely grated fels naptha soap (or any other soap that does not have moisturizers, dyes or perfumes in it)
½ cup Borax
½ cup Washing Soda
Use 2 tablespoons per load. (I know that seems like only a tiny amount of detergent, but truly, that’s all you need.)
The original recipe I found on the internet said to grate the soap in your food processor. I couldn’t do that to my food processor, so I went to Walmart and bought a cheap fine grater for a few bucks and did it by hand. The bar grated easily and quickly. One bar made 2 cups of soap shreds. Each batch of detergent is enough for 16 loads of laundry. I was happy with the results in hot, warm, and cold water.
Considering fels naptha costs $1 a bar and borax and washing soda are less than $3 a box, and each box will make something like 15 recipes. The total cost of a load of laundry is pretty cheap. Add white vinegar as your fabric softener (1/2 cup per load) and you can save plenty making your own laundry detergent.
In all my reading I also saw dish washing soap mentioned as a great pre-treater. Haven’t tried that yet, but I’m sure I will. I know that even my simple version of laundry soap seems like a lot more work than picking up a bottle of detergent at the store, but consider the other costs. It’s easy for me mix up some more detergent if I run low, that saves on gasoline for the trip to the store and the packaging for each batch of detergent. But more than that it’s one more way for me to take care of my family in a way that is good for the planet, good for them, and good for my pocketbook.
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