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Cleaning Up:  Totally Organic Laundry Soap  |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
 Posted - May 17 2009 : 8:57:13 PM
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I am looking for a totally organic laundry soap recipe. The reason why is that I intend to be able to use the water accumulated from laundry wash days to water my garden since I will most likely have a well water system and septic system not connected to a city water source...it just makes sense to me to divert water like this to sustain a garden and in turn be a bit more self sustaining. But..I need a laundry soap that I can make that will be safe for not only cleaning my clothes but for my garden/environment as well.
I am looking for a liquid detergent method if possible.
I know that a recipe has been posted earlier on this forum using Fels Naptha soap and borax and other ingredients, but I am wanting a detergent that is 100 percent organic/chemical free...is this possible?
~I Dream of a Better World..where chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned!~
blogs:http://gardengoose.blogspot.com/
and http://thevictorygardener.blogspot.com
magazine: www.stliving.net
etsy shops: http://GardenGooseGifts.etsy.com
and http://myvictorygarden.etsy.com |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
Posted - May 17 2009 : 11:35:10 PM
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Hi Tina-
Borax is natural- it's a compound that is mined from the earth not that far from my home town.
You should be able to use the Borax, Washing Soda, Baking Soda mix safely as you only use two tablespoons per wash. Also instead of using Fels, you can use castile soap or I also make a special laundry soap that is chemical fee as well that is forumlated for washing. Let me know if you want to try a bar. I am going out of town for a couple of weeks so please let me know before next Saturday.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
Posted - May 18 2009 : 01:34:52 AM
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I guess this is what concerns me about Borax:
http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/s3122.htm
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Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. It is usually a white powder consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water.
Borax has a wide variety of uses. It is a component of many detergents, cosmetics, and enamel glazes. It is also used to make buffer solutions in biochemistry, as a fire retardant, as an anti-fungal compound for fiberglass, as an insecticide, as a flux in metallurgy, and as a precursor for other boron compounds.
The term borax is used for a number of closely related minerals or chemical compounds that differ in their crystal water content, but usually refers to the decahydrate. Commercially sold borax is usually partially dehydrated.
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Also did even more research this evening on Borax: the website for Borax says "Keep out of reach of Children"
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also came across another website that said this:
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Excess boron --- and it takes very little to be an excess -- will permanently damage your soil so that plants don't grow.(Yikes!..not what I want)
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This also another quote from a gardening site:
It was interesting that borax could make a very effective tub/shower/bath cleaner, as it inhibits mold and mildew. It also has herbicidal properties, which means it should not be used in garden areas where you want things to grow.
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This is the info on Washing Soda also known as Soda Ash and Sodium carbonate decahydrate:
http://www.chem.utoronto.ca/~pmeindl/labs/msds%20files/sodium%20carbonate.htm#TOC3B
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After all of this research..hmm..I'm thinking if I can't eat it..do I actually want to wash my clothes and body with it?
Seriously..I'm not being funny here.
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Anyhow..thanks Alee..
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...but I don't think I'll be using Borax and Washing Soda..I'm pretty sure there is even a safer solution than those 2 options out there.
I'm looking at soaps made with actual edible ingredients..yes soap that if you wanted to you could actually eat it...and at Soap nuts. I'm thinking that these options are going to wind up being my best bet for my needs. As I plan on recycling the laundry water for 100 percent use on the garden/yard..so it HAS to be 100 percent safe for the plants and for us.
I am also trying to convince hubby to go with a steel roof if we wind up having to re roof a new place...a steel roof will create a watershed of all water..it will shed off both the dew and any rainwater ..and we will more than likely create a screened rainwater catch system as well. As the shingle roofs tend to absorb a fair amount of water even before it starts to run off some..a steel roof sheds all including dew accumulation.If we don't have to re roof a new place..we will still use what water is created from rainfall that comes down the roof downspouts, and have rain barrels set up to capture that for even more gardening/yard water needs.
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I just couldn't see pumping that gray water/usable water into a septic system when it could be made 100 percent safe for the plants/garden.
So..I've been doing my research...still more to do.
~I Dream of a Better World..where chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned!~
blogs:http://gardengoose.blogspot.com/
and http://thevictorygardener.blogspot.com
magazine: www.stliving.net
etsy shops: http://GardenGooseGifts.etsy.com
and http://myvictorygarden.etsy.com |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
Posted - May 18 2009 : 01:42:15 AM
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I'll finish using up the soaps I do have because yes I come from that mind set of waste not/want not..but once the soap powders/liquids are gone that I have left to get used up.. this gal is going a la naturale~(nope don't worry folks..I'm not going "that" natural/no nudist colony membership here..LOL) and I'll be either creating my own laundry soap liquids or using Soap nuts. ..but the laundry/water usage methods are definitely going to see a major change at my new home for sure.
~I Dream of a Better World..where chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned!~
blogs:http://gardengoose.blogspot.com/
and http://thevictorygardener.blogspot.com
magazine: www.stliving.net
etsy shops: http://GardenGooseGifts.etsy.com
and http://myvictorygarden.etsy.com |
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Tammyb
True Blue Farmgirl
511 Posts
Tammy
Bluffton
Ohio
USA
511 Posts |
Posted - May 18 2009 : 04:38:38 AM
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Thanks for the information. Now I have some work to do to see what I will be using next. I make soap and laundry softner in large batches so I have some to use up. I hope to find a home-made recipe before I have to buy any from the Heath Food Store
Tammyb #541 |
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
Posted - May 18 2009 : 11:52:03 AM
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yes, Karin..I have been looking at the soap nuts. for about $40 you can get enough to do 400-500 loads of laundry which means it is about 10 cents per load. really not that bad in price when you compare the prices of that versus a gallon of castile soap averages about $32.00 a gallon..64 ozs in a gallon right?..that means you'd need about 1 oz of soap per washer load which means each load of laundry would cost you about 50 cents per wash.
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I know the soap nuts aren't local, but..they are sounding a bit more cost efficient and safe.
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~Tina
~I Dream of a Better World..where chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned!~
blogs:http://gardengoose.blogspot.com/
and http://thevictorygardener.blogspot.com
magazine: www.stliving.net
etsy shops: http://GardenGooseGifts.etsy.com
and http://myvictorygarden.etsy.com |
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southerngirl
Farmgirl in Training
24 Posts
florida
USA
24 Posts |
Posted - May 19 2009 : 5:03:01 PM
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| Hello Tina. If you try the soap nuts could you let me know? I want to get away from all those chemicals too. I wasn't aware that even some shampoos can cause cancer. I would really love to know what you think of them. Thanks, Holly. |
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Mamarude
True Blue Farmgirl
107 Posts
Anna
Durango
Colorado
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - May 20 2009 : 8:18:39 PM
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| My local health food store has a trial bag of soap nuts for $2.50. I'm skeptical though, our well water is so hard that my homemade laundry soap was a total bust. I like Mrs. Meyer's laundry soaps, but it has borax. My Trader Joe's brand liquid laundry soap says it's "septic and graywater safe" It contains "water, plant based surfactants, earth salts, soy based fabric softener, cellulose optical brighener, and lavender oil" It's my favorite so far, I also watch what we use because our leach field is close to the hay field, and I don't want my future milk cow eating icky stuff. |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
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Mamarude
True Blue Farmgirl
107 Posts
Anna
Durango
Colorado
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - May 23 2009 : 7:38:38 PM
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We live in a small town too, the nearest trader joe's is 4-5 hours away. We stock up whenever we travel! Do you have Tj's anywhere in Florida?
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
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sarah.astrid
Farmgirl at Heart
2 Posts
Sarah
Madison
WI
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - May 27 2009 : 7:53:24 PM
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We use Ecos Free and Clear and it can be used for greywater systems
http://www.green-trust.org/wordpress/2009/03/13/greywater-friendly-laundry-detergent/
I also use soapnuts and love them. I have a five pound bag of them downstairs in my laundry room right now. They are 100% natural - nuts that contain saponins - the cleansing component of natural soaps. They are excellent for HE washers because they don't foam. They smell slightly vinegary in the bag, but leave laundry smelling fresh and not overly-perfumed and very soft.
You can make all kinds of cleaning products with them - I have made dishsoap for the sink, shampoo, body wash, window cleaner and dog shampoo. All you have to do is to make any kind of shampoo/wash/soap is boil 4-8 nuts for 20 or so minutes and then grate 1/2 bar of natural castille soap into the pot and let it disolve. You empty your liquid into a bottle and then shake before use because the soap nut liquid will separate from the soap.
For window cleaner combine soap nut liquid with vinegar - it gets rid of smeary smudges really well.
It's pretty economical to use soap nuts - you can use them several times in the wash - they come with a little bag and you put three or four of them in and reuse 3-4 times depending on water temperature.
I can't say enough about them. They work on all kinds of dirty laundry - nothing ever comes smelly, they are great for my cloth diapers and they work great on getting out little oil stains like salad dressing on napkins, etc.) - they have so many uses and they are biodegradable and compostable.
I get them here because these are fairly traded - http://maggiespureland.com/
I started with the 36-50 load box, and loved them so much I moved up to the 200 load box with my next order. You get way more washes than the box says, by the way - you can use them more than the directions recommend and still get good results.
“He who buys what he doesn't need steals from himself” ~Swedish Proverb |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
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Cleaning Up: Totally Organic Laundry Soap |
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Totally Organic Laundry Soap
