Simple Washing Powder

I made half of a batch of washing powder using the recipe from Sandy Maine's book, Clean, Naturally. The recipe calls for:

• 16 cups of baking soda
• 12 cups of borax
• 8 cups of grated castile soap
• 3 tablespoons lavender, lemon, or grapefruit essential oil

Mix together the baking soda, borax, and grated castile soap. Use a whisk to stir in essential oil. Use 1/8 cup per load.

The book says that this recipe makes enough to last a family of four for one year. I think that is based on five loads of laundry per week. The Boy and I usually have more than five loads of laundry per week, so I'm thinking we'll be doin' good if it lasts half of a year.

I grated three bars of Kirk's Castile Soap, which yielded a little more than four cups, so six bars should be plenty for the whole batch. I left out the essential oil because I really didn't want to be bothered by an extra step and extra expense. It smells wonderful as is. It didn't suds very much, but it did a little. I'm washing a load with it right now. Hopefully, it will come out clean.

I was reading the other day that chronic fatigue is often related to allergies. Well, I'm always tired, and I have allergies. I've been known to break out in hives from head to toe for no known reason. I went to Wal-Mart once and broke out in hives, my upper lip swelled to probably three times its normal size, and I started wheezing terribly. I ended up at the doctor's office for that one. He said I was probably allergic to something they had used for cleaning. So, I'm working to reduce allergens (anybody need a cat?), which is why I'm hoping this powder works. Plus, it's MUCH cheaper than regular laundry detergent. The castile soap was 99 cents a bar. I think the borax was $2.67. I don't know how much the baking soda was. I bought a huge bag of it at Sam's a few years ago. I think it may have been $8, but I just used a small amount of it for the washing powder. So, it would probably be only $2-3 worth of baking soda. Not bad.....if it works. :-)

It seems my washer is leaking yet again, but I guess that's a post for another day.....

By the way, there are recipes for laundry soaps using Fels Naptha which are supposed to work well and are quite frugal. You can find the recipes at a site called http://www.soapsgonebuy.com/.

Addendum: The first load (towels, wash cloths, dish towels, and dish cloths) are on the line. They are clean and have a very faint, clean-smelling scent. I even took it down to Mom's for her to do the sniff test, and it passed. I think this one's a keeper! :-)