Washing Clothes.

I buy most of my clothing from op-shops.  We are also given some and recently I was given a bag of lovely things for the grandaughter.  The first thing I notice with these clothes is the smell.  And no, it's not a musty op-shop smell but the smell of laundry powder and/or fabric softener.

I don't like it.  I find that I need to wash these things a couple of times just to get rid of the *lovely scent*  And though I wash them in plain cold water there are always heaps of suds after these things have been in the machine.  This shows that most people either use too much powder in their machine or the things are not rinsed enough.  Either way, I think that less LP needs to be used.

Because I find that heavily scented, chemical filled smells make my Fibro worse I have been trying to cut way down on using anything *chemical*

So I don't use shampoo or conditioner, I don't use bought cleaning products, no perfumes etc. and I don't buy washing powder.  I don't think we need to use it to have clean clothes.  On the odd occasion that I do need to use soap to get something clean then I use a powder that I make myself or just rub the mark with laundry soap.

I use a twin tub washing machine and let the water run out onto the fruit trees so that is a good reason in itself to not use the chemical stuff.  Most of our clothes come out clean when washed only in cold water.  Hubby's things sometimes need a soak or a rub but rarely does anything of mine.  Yeah, it could be that I don't work as hard, it could be that I put things out to be washed before the dirt becomes ingrained, it could be because I wear black for dirty jobs...Whatever the reason, I find that my clothes come out clean enough. 

To make the powder that I use I grate a cake of yellow laundry soap and mix it with a cup of washing soda.  I have used the Bamix to chop the soap and that turns it into a much finer mix but I no longer have that.
I used to add some Borax as well but no longer do.  I would suggest you don't use that if you run the water onto gardens or lawn.

You don't need to use a lot of the mix, maybe a spoonful or 2,  but it does not *sud up* like the bought products. 

When I first started making my own laundry soap I added water to the mix and it was like a gloopy mix.  Many years ago I read somewhere about not adding the water and having the mix as a powder so I tried that.  I find it works as well but takes up a lot less room.