It’s the last week of October, we’ve covered all the favorite fall foods and this week, I came across no new recipes that I think are MUST HAVEs and it’s just a little too early for Thanksgiving preparations-next week on that. Sooooo, what did cross my orbit was something that has been on my radar for a while, but hadn’t made to the top of my list of things to do until ‘trigged by an Instagram post. Chaya of London (Chayaoflondon) a young gal frequently posts about food & home. Her “Make Your Own Laundry Detergent” recipe from her Mom caught my eye, I gave it a try on Tuesday and since then, I have been using this detergent and the verdict is “Glad I tried it and will continue to use this until it’s gone and make some more and may try a different essential oil for a different scent, however the lavender is a home run.
Here’s what I like about this detergent:
-It was so easy to make. I had most of the ingredients on hand, I needed to buy the Washing Soda. The idea of making my own is very appealing and you can scent it as you wish. I have several essential oils on hand that I use for a cool mist diffuser-also better for your home. Knowing what the ingredients are-and these are all pretty harmless ingredients which are less likely to cause skin irritation. Lastly, making your own laundry detergent is cost effective (I break down that cost below).
Therefore, for me, it was something to at least give a try. A few observations since using my own detergent. Chaya Mom’s directions say to use 1 Tablespoon for small loads and 2 Tablespoons for larger loads. When I used the 2 Tablespoons for a larger load, I found that there was leftover product in the washing machine receptacle . What I did was, scoop/carve it out with a butter knife and use it as a you would a ‘laundry detergent pod’ for the next load. I might just do this with towels or whites so as not to risk any kind of possible ‘spotting’ that might cause anything like a ‘bleach’ spot. Really I don’t even know if that is a possibility, but I just wouldn’t want you to risk any ruining of an item of clothing. Our clothes came out clean.
A few more laundry tips…If I have any ‘spot cleaning’ to do or have any laundry that needs any extra attention, I use a few drops of Dawn dish soap, let set then gently rub with an old tooth brush, then throw tooth brush in the washing machine-then after it is washed and dried, it goes back in the cabinet to use for the same purpose again. For drying clothes in the dryer, I don’t like fabric softener sheets, I use the white wool dryer balls a very few drops of essential oil (Lavender is my favorite scent) to add a nice scent to clothes.
Doing laundry is a chore I enjoy. If you do not, how about some good music as your sort or fold laundry to or listening to a favorite podcaster? if Chou have kids at home, teach them to do laundry…
Directions for Making Your Own Laundry Detergent
(From the Instagram account of Chayaoflondon)
Ingredients
1 cup Kosher Salt
1 cup Epsom Salt
3 cups Baking Soda
3 cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
20 drops of your favorite essential oil (or none for unscented)
Method
1. Measure out all ingredients and place in a large plastic ziplock bag.
2. Zip bag and press bag to combine ingredients.
3. When ingredients are adequately blended, unzip bag and pour ingredients into a large glass jar or your favorite container with a Tablespoon for measuring out. You could also keep detergent in the large ziplock bag too.
Cost Efficiency
This is merely an estimation of cost per load vs. the cost per load of the Tide which would be a competitor. Breaking it down per load, the Tide was about $ .14 per load. The “Make Your Own” version, was approximately $.07 per load when I did the figuring before completing the first few loads. The figures were based on doing all (2 Tablespoon) large loads. After a few washings, it appeared that 2 Tablespoons was too much product, so most likely, cost would be about .04-.05 cents per load, so less than half the cost of the Tide.
Wishing you a Great Day 🌼
