A year of great handmade laundry detergent!!!

Garden in full swing.  We have rain this year which  is already better than last year.  We also have agribusinessmen who feel they must irrigate (more about that in the next blog-- so we aren't really sure how long our wells will hold out).  Note that I didn't refer to them as farmers.  Hopefully the small farmer still cares enough to think this through. 
         I have discovered in the past year a great money saver that I want to pass on to you.  I now make my own wash detergent and it is so cheap and easy that there is no reason not to.  Works great even in tough farm dirt.  I make the liquid kind because we have hard water and it is hard to dissolve powder.  Not only does this work in the new high-efficiency washers, but also in the older ones.  It also is great to mix it half & half with dish liquid (the good stuff--no antibacterial varieties) and does a great load of dishes.  Makes at least 3 gal of detergent and I use (remember, I have the old washer) 1/2 c to 1 c per load.  My daughters have the HE models and they use much less.  I think it costs me about 75 cents to make all of that (but then, I have my own bar soap so it may cost you a bit more).  By the way, one of my daughters actually switched from using Tide to this detergent!!

LAUNDRY SOAP (especially good for high efficiency washers)

¾ c. Borax
¾ c. Arm & Hammer Washing Soda  (NOT Baking soda)
1 bar soap (I use my handmade soap, but you can also use Ivory or Fels Naptha--don't use the bars of detergent they sell as bar soap now--more on that later)
Water

Heat 6 c water. Grate soap and add to hot water. Stir and continue heating until soap is melted. Add Borax and washing soda to hot water/soap & stir until dissolved.  ( I just save slivers of soap until I have enough and put them in hot water overnight.  The next morning they are either completely dissolved or only require a little heating to finish)

Place 4 c. hot water in bottom of a bucket and add soap/borax/washing soda to water to bucket. Stir. Add 1 ½ gallon cold water (that is 6 quarts) & let sit 24 hours. Wisk together and use (will be goopy gel)

Use ½ c. large loads and ¼ c for small loads  (see my measurements in bold above)

This can also be used in your mop water, as an all purpose cleaner although I use vinegar in a spray bottle for that. 

Back to the comment about bar soap on the market.  The reason I make my own bar soap, among other things, is because commercial bar and liquid soaps take all the natural glycerine out and resell that to you as lotion to moisturize your skin because of the drying effect that your soap has on your skin--vicious circle.  My soap is real soap (yes, it is made with lye, but after the saponification process the lye is gone AND I age my soap 2 months in the open air before it is ever sold/used).  I use my soap on face and hands, in the bath.  I also use a lot less moisturizers than almost everyone because of the cocoanut oil content.   Anyway, that is one reason.  The other is this complete nonsense about 'antibacterial' properties.  First of all folks, soap is antibacterial because that is what soap is.  You don't need the extra chemicals to get you squeaky clean.  Soap does that all by itself.  That and the more we use the added antibacterial chemicals, the more resistant we are to antibiotics when we really need them (not nearly as often as they would like us to believe).  Anyway, if you want to try my bar soap, it is available for sale at the Attica, Indiana farmers market or by ordering from me for $3.00 per bar.  Send me an e-mail at fentersj@gmail.com

My granddaughter's softball tournament final game is tonight!!