While a friend was staying with us recently, some of my clothes were washed in with hers.Unfortunately she uses a detergent I am highly allergic to and within a few short hours I was covered in a bright red rash and itching like mad. This was not the first time it had happened I had a reaction a couple of years ago and it takes WEEKS to go away. I find this kind of scary, I mean what is that stuff made of, really? So, the other night I was flipping through my July/August copy of Mother Earth Living, Home edition and low and behold a whole article on homemade laundry items. I could not wait to get to the store! Just a few ingredients and I was in business.
Arm and Hammer washing soda, Borax and a bar of castile soap.
Here's the recipe:
Grate the soap very finely and mix with 8 cups of water. Slowly heat until soap dissolves. In a 5 gallon bucket put 4 1/2 gallons hot tap water. When soap has dissolved add to bucket along with 1 cup washing soda and 1 cup borax. Use 2-3 tsp essential oils of your choice (I used lavender) stir well, cover and allow to sit 24 hours.Use 1/2- 1 cup per load.
The next day I stirred well and put it too the test. A stinky dog blanket was washed. Eureka! Now a load of clothes... I am hooked. The best part? All of the ingredients cost about 11 dollars, there is enough washing soda and borax to make 6 or 7 more batches only having to buy the bar of castile soap. That breaks down to about 5 dollars for a 5 gallon bucket!
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