Saturday Green Up

One of the easiest Green Up changes we have made here in our
corner of the Garden State has been to start making our own laundry detergent.
The recipe I use is:

• 1 cup of Fels Naptha Bar Soap
• 1/2 cup Borax
• 1/2 cup Washing Soda

I make as much as I can at one time, depends on how many bars of soap are on hand.

First I cut my bars of soap in half

then I use the grater on my food processor it looks like this

then I put this in and chop it all up again

until it looks like this

then I add the borax and washing soda

After mixing it together I put it in this old pickle jar someone had left over..

And I am good to go. I use between 2 and 3 tbsp of detergent depending on how

dirty our load is.I usually toss it in a bit of hot water and switch the water to cold

to wash. I like not having my clothes "smell like something", but many people

make the liquid version (see a recipe here )

and add a scent with essential oils.I have no problem finding these ingredients

at my local supermarket, but if you can not locate them, try here.

It is one of those Green Up things that is putting more green in our wallets too.

Farmer Dad has very sensitive skin, I think there has been an improvement

in his level of dry skin and irritation too. We have also been air drying everything lately,

which has proven a challenge with the recent rain, but we never used our dryer for most

of our laundry any way, so I am not sure how much of a difference that will make.

My next goal is to find a High Efficiency Washing Machine, mine is old and uses too much water.

Do you have a goal to GREEN UP or , should I say,clean up your laundry area? ;-)

Have a Green Day ((hugs))KateinNJ