Thursday, August 1, 2013

Homemade Laundry Liquid

Is there anybody out there who actually enjoys paying for laundry liquid? It's one of those items that can add significant amounts to your grocery bill. There is a way to stop buying this product forever and save heaps of money in the long run. You can make your own! You make a batch of 10 litres and for a family of 4 where I do quite a lot of washing, it lasts me months and months. I made up my second batch today and it took no longer than 15 minutes. I can't even remember the last time I made it.

The only ingredients that you will need to make this is: borax, washing soda, soap flakes (you can buy Lux soap flakes or grate a bar of your own; i grate a bar of Sard soap) and water. You can buy all of these at your supermarket, no need to hunt far and wide.

As you can see you will need 10 litres of containers to put it all in. The first time I did it I didn't have any glass ones and they simply went into recyled soft drink or milk cartons. That's just fine and I still don't have enough glass bottles, still using one soft drink bottle! Over time you can start collecting recycled bottles that may come from cordial or passata. I sometimes venture down to trash and treasure markets where you can pick up some nice vintage bottles like the one below.
The liquid in these jars all looks nicely combined...that's because it is still warm from this morning. After 24 hours it will cool down and then separate. You'll be left with a jelly like substance on top and then water down the bottom. It is essential that you leave a gap at the top so that you can shake it to combine the contents before you use it. You only need to use a 1/4 cup per load.

This is a such a versatile product. You can use it for many things around the house. You could even put some in a jar in your kitchen and use it to wipe down your benches. If you mix 1/2 a cup of laundry liquid with some bicarb to make a thick paste, it makes an excellent cleaner for your sinks and baths.

Give it ago! The full recipe can be found here at Rhonda's blog. Never buy laundry liquid again!!