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Since you asked...

I had a request for the recipe for laundry detergent that I found on Pinterest.  Here you go, Country Girl, Barb:

  • 4lb.12oz. box of Borax
  • 3lb. 7oz. box of washing soda
  • 3lb. container of oxy cleaner
  • 2 bars of Zote soap, grated
  • 2lb. box of baking soda
There was a powdered fabric softener in the recipe, I do not use fabric softener so I left that out. The two loads of laundry I have done using this concoction have been satisfyingly clean with a very mild scent. I am thinking throwing in a box of Deft or maybe Ivory Snow would save the grating of 2 bars of soap. It would add to the cost but up the convenience factor. It really does take very little to do a full load of laundry—1 or 2 tablespoons. The batch I mixed up will last a very long time at that rate.
Fair warning:  this does not suds up but I have been happy with how it cleans.  I have used it with hot, warm and cold water.

I have also seen the recipe calling for Fels Naptha or Ivory soap.  I like the mild scent of the Zote, but I haven't found it in Vermont.  I can buy it at SavAlot in Florida and have used just that for hand washables since I discovered it a few years ago.

Rian had asked why I don't use fabric softener.  We have very soft water and fabric softener seems unnecessary and I have an adversion to really strong scents because they make me sneeze like crazy.

Fiftyodd asked if Mike was an accountant.  That made me laugh.  He had wicked math phobia as a student.  I am sure that is a career path he never even considered.  However, as I thought about it, yes, it really does fit in so many ways.  He actually had his own small business (with a partner who later bought him out and thus enabled his retirement) which was/is Harbor Vintage Motor Company. He was an American picker, scouring old barns through the countryside for parts and restoring old Harley and Indian motorcycles. Ahead of his time.  He could have been on TV!  Well actually, he was once, but it was a one time thing, not a whole series.  Mostly the show about American pickers bores him.


 
 
At one time he had seven old motorcycles that he had restored for himself in the garage.  Now he he has none--except for some toys similar to that above.
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Comments

  1. Sally WesselySeptember 29, 2012 at 5:21 PM

    Thanks for the recipe. Years ago, when my children were small, I made homemade soap by mixing lard from a pig that has been slaughtered and lye. It seems I used Borax in the soap also. It takes several weeks to cure as I recall, and I had to go down in the basement and carefully stir it with a wooden spoon occasionally as it was processing. It was wonderful soap. My whites were the whitest ever. My babies diapers were so fresh, white, and sweet smelling. I have the recipe somewhere. I will have to look for it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. marciamayoSeptember 30, 2012 at 6:56 AM

    If I had to put this together, I'd be too tired to wash.

    ReplyDelete
  3. TomSeptember 30, 2012 at 12:29 PM

    I'm with you on the fabric softeners -- too smelly. Your husband sounds like he had a cool job, and I'm with him, too. Do not like "American Pickers" (but do love "Pawn Stars").

    ReplyDelete
  4. BarbSeptember 30, 2012 at 11:04 PM

    My washer went kaput and now my new one calls for only liquid detergent because of its water-saving feature. I'm having to adapt myself to a new way of washing!

    ReplyDelete

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