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Issue 001's "So I tried it…" continued.
page 3 Endnotes:
1.) Like washing soda, Borax is a fabulous general purpose cleaner. To clean the porcelain sink and tub I simply sprinkled 20 Mule Team Borax on a damp sponge and scrubbed away (just like with any other Comet-like cleaner). It worked beautifully. A solution of ˝ cup Borax to 2 cups of warm water did a bang up job on the tile floor as well as the sisal rug in the living room. Both washing soda and Borax are great deodorizers-perfect for cleaning the fridge, toilet, litter box and when you spill that café latte in the car. Borax and washing soda are truly the dynamic duo of cleaning.
2.) Super washing soda is basically sodium
carbonate. Natural sodium carbonate is derived from the mineral 3.) In Part one I footnoted a recipe for homemade laundry detergent. I've revised it here to include lavender essential oil. 1 cup soap flakes * Mix the soap flakes in a pan with 3 pints of water (that's 6 cups) over medium heat, until it all dissolves, roughly 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the washing soda and Borax. Mix until everything thickens, another 3 minutes or so, then remove from heat. Put 1 quart of hot water in a 2 gallon bucket, then add the soap mixture you just made. Mix well. Now fill the bucket with the mixture with cold water. Stir until well blended. It will thicken and separate as it cools. Stir or shake well. Add lavender essential oil and stir or shake well again. You will also need to shake well before each use; 1/2 cup for each load, or more for very dirty items. I really want to encourage you to make it. It's fun and unbelievably easy. It has taken me on average twenty minutes to make each batch, a quantity that would last me probably six months except that I continue to give it away. At risk of sounding ridiculous, filling up a clean champagne or regular wine bottle with beautifully scented handmade laundry soap, stopped with a cork and donning a handwritten label does make a nice gift. My next batch I'm going to attempt a lavender/bergamot blend. I'm not sure how that will turn out but I do know one thing. I will never buy ready-made laundry detergent again. ••••••••••••••••••••••• *Soap flakes turned out to be harder to find than either borax or washing soda. Ivory stopped making soap flakes in 1993, the last major manufacturer to do so. Grating any pure soap, such as Castile (e.g. Dr. Bronners) works fine. I used my Microplane grater (available at kitchen specialty stores like Sur La Table or Williams Sonoma) the greatest grater ever made and achieved a very light fluffy soap flake. **Be sure to wear rubber gloves when using washing soda. Do not use on animal fibers, although the insignificant amount of washing soda present in the solution I used to clean my black wool turtleneck (see Delicates above) did not negatively affect it in any way. Be sure to follow all manufacturer's instructions. *** Please do not 'taste' in the literal sense.
Green Home does not sell either borax or washing soda because they are very heavy and very readily available all over the country. It is not environmentally sound to sell products like this via the Internet, so at the moment, we don't. Please write us if you can't find it in your local store, and we may change our policy and carry a limited amount of these two items.
Disclaimer: Green Home.com does not warrant and shall have no liability for information provided in this newsletter. Each individual person, fabric, or material may react differently to a particular suggested use. It is recommended that before you begin to use any formula, you read the directions carefully and test it first. Should you have any health care-related questions or concerns, please consult with your physician or other health care provider.
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