It seems I am slowly, but surely, turning into a tree-hugging hippy. This in itself is curious for someone who doesn't really like the great outdoors all that much but apparently I am a woman of contradictions. Hey, I like to keep people on their toes.
Recently I've been looking into home made cleaning products. This appeals to me partly because of my cheapskate gene but also because I would like to reduce the amount of chemicals with which I surround myself daily (without having to give up dyeing my hair...) I trawled around the web for a while and finally found this recipe for washing powder - and the whole blog is great so it's now on my blogroll to the right there. I made the heavy duty version, minus the borax which I couldn't find in the supermarket. I've just finished my third load of washing and so far it seems to be working fine. My slighty-yellowed-with-age white sheets are still slightly yellow but the white bits are as white as ever. I only wash in cold water so I'll have to add a bit of vinegar to the fabric softener compartment occasionally but I'm sure I can manage that.
And somehow this makes me feel a whole lot better about the fact that most of my veges didn't survive the first Spring heatwave...
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Recently I've been looking into home made cleaning products. This appeals to me partly because of my cheapskate gene but also because I would like to reduce the amount of chemicals with which I surround myself daily (without having to give up dyeing my hair...) I trawled around the web for a while and finally found this recipe for washing powder - and the whole blog is great so it's now on my blogroll to the right there. I made the heavy duty version, minus the borax which I couldn't find in the supermarket. I've just finished my third load of washing and so far it seems to be working fine. My slighty-yellowed-with-age white sheets are still slightly yellow but the white bits are as white as ever. I only wash in cold water so I'll have to add a bit of vinegar to the fabric softener compartment occasionally but I'm sure I can manage that.
And somehow this makes me feel a whole lot better about the fact that most of my veges didn't survive the first Spring heatwave...
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7 comments:
Just beware the vinegar - Don't use it with dark things. I had a friend try that trick and she faded her clothes. Of course, there's probably no reason not to put it in with light coloured stuff. I'm not certain that vinegar has the same impact as commercial fabric softeners on your towels - they actually coat the fibres so that they don't absorb water as easily (which sort of wrecks the whole point of having towels in the first place)
The vinegar would just be to get rid of any soap build up in the machine, not to soften my clothes. I don't use fabric softener normally. Good to know about the dark clothes, though - I'll make sure I only do it with sheets or whites.
Water is pretty amazing all by itself, when it comes to cleaning stuff!
A number of my friends use homamade washing powder & swear by it... maybe one of these days I will be bothered to try it too...
Apparently it is excellent for people with ecsma (sp?)
Becky, I was wondering what the heck you were doing commenting on my blog at midnight on New Year's Eve... then remembered it's only 11pm in Qld. (That doesn't explain what I'M doing on my blog at midnight. Yeah, not a party animal.)
Grating the soap was a pain but it did occur to me afterwards that I could have given it a little whizz in my mini food processor. I used that to grind up the washing soda crystals a bit finer (so they'll dissolve more easily) but I'd already done the soap by then. Next time!
I must contract Jen's comment on the vinegar - I use white vinegar as a fabric softer and have for years now - it does not fade your clothes! Perhaps Jen's friend was using something else in her wash which did that? I have never had any problem with my clothes fading and I use vinegar in every wash. It keeps my washing machine clean and my clothes/sheets/towels fresh.
Oh and go you tree hugging hippy!
Go the hippy within !
Hi femina, I am friend of Beckys (swift Jan) and thought I would check out your blog as she speaks highly of you. I just started blogging myself :)
Would love to know how your washing powder is going now.. have you made anything else?
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