MissKitty's Hippie Green Living Thread

[Queen Victoria]

Walmart sells washing soda in the laundry aisle.

[Parts]

I know Walmart sell it but they don't always have it near me and the pool stuff is extremely fine powder and 99% sodium carbonate with no scents or anything added

[Icequeen]

Thanks Parts.

Picked up a whole case of liquid sanitizer in one gallon jugs once. Bleach, just a little stronger than my cheap generic stuff.

Diluted it a bit and didn't buy bleach for quite awhile.

[Queen Victoria]

I know Walmart sell it but they don't always have it near me and the pool stuff is extremely fine powder and 99% sodium carbonate with no scents or anything added

I just assumed that the pool stuff came in extra large sizes. 

['andersom']

I know Walmart sell it but they don't always have it near me and the pool stuff is extremely fine powder and 99% sodium carbonate with no scents or anything added

I've never seen scented washing soda. It's available in almost every supermarket here. The size of the crystals differs per brand, but bigger crystals dissolve very quickly too. 

[MissKitty]

I read through all the comments for the recipe and although I knew that it should be washing soda, people have done it with the baking soda and had good results. If you think about it, adding baking soda to the bathtub when you have a soak is a natural water softener. I'll probably use washing soda though.

[Icequeen]

Reading the same. Seems like the difference is one may be just more alkaline than the other. Some sites say you can make your own washing soda by heating baking soda.

Might try your recipe found a couple bars of castile cleaning. I'm not sure I'll go with the lav though. I'm safe with mint & citrus fragrances in small doses, and thats about it.

[MissKitty]

You could just skip the scent all together. If you make it, let me know how it turns out

[Icequeen]

Okay ended up going with this recipe that I found in a dozen or so places on the web. Wanted to make a smaller quanity in the event it doesn't work out well, and stumbled on this...the peppermint won me over.

Homemade Peppermint Laundry Soap Powder

1 bar (finely) grated peppermint soap (try the Dr. Bronner’s castile brand or Lush, the more natural, the better)
1 cup Borax (Sodium Borate, found in the laundry aisle)
1/2 cup baking soda
1 cup washing soda (found in the laundry aisle)

I used 1 bar of Kirk's castile (what I had lurking in the cabinet), and added 10 drops of peppermint oil. My big grater/zester turned the soap to almost dust but it was a PITA to use...I think next time I'll grate it more coarsly and put it in my old food processor that is hiding around here packed away (somewhere).    

Will test drive this Tues at the latest.

[MissKitty]

yeah the only thing I didn't like about the quantity of the first recipe was that it was so much. I'd have to get through 288 loads so I don't waste it. :

Although yours will make your clothes smell like peppermint?? I like peppermint but I'm not sure I want to smell like  peppermint. I suppose one could supplement for the oil of ones choice though.

[Icequeen]

Minty fresh. 

The fragrance isn't really that strong in the powder (all I smell basically is the castile), I'll have to see what it's like on the clothes.

I'll keep you posted as to whether 10 drops is overkill or not. You can always make it with lavender. 

[Icequeen]

Did 2 loads, 1 dark, 1 white.

Both came out of the dryer clean and "fresh" smelling, with no discernable odor or fragrance. I did use a cheaper fragrance oil I had on hand made for candles and soap, so it may be that my oil is not very stronge, but I acheived basically what I wanted and won't be smelling like a breathmint.

As of now, I like this much better than the liquid I make so after I test this more I think I'll be using up that and making more of this.   

[MissKitty]

Yay! So happy to hear that. Okay, I'm going to use your recipe. Just need to finish up the store bought liquid first. 

[Queen Victoria]

For those who wear underwire bras:

When the underwire pokes out the fabric, simply glue the fabric shut with super glue.

[Icequeen]

For those who wear underwire bras:

When the underwire pokes out the fabric, simply glue the fabric shut with super glue.

I had one of those once. In less than 5 min I was taking it off and snipping the ends to pull out the wires.

All I could think was how the hell do other women wear these things?

I am hopeless.