Lavender Vanilla Laundry Detergent

INGREDIENTS

1 bar organic lavender castile soap, grated

1 cup washing soda

1/2 cup borax

10 drops vanilla essential oil

DIRECTIONS

1. On the stove, place 4 cups hot water in large saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in grated soap.  

I used Dr. Bronner's Organic Magic Soap in Lavender. 

 

image source

2. Stir gently until soap has dissolved.  Remove from heat.  (Note: I used a wooden spoon but I should have used a plastic one.  The wooden one absorbs too much so it has now found a new home in the garbage can.)

  

3. Add washing soda and borax to soap-water mixture.  

Stir until powders have dissolved and there are no clumps left.  The texture is like medium thickness gravy.  Haha, not too watery and not so thick that it can stand alone.

Cool slightly, then blend in vanilla essential oil completely.  (I left mine to make some phone calls, and it had gelled a lot before I got back to it and left lots of clumps {see below}.  I added the essential oil, gently reheated it, and the mixture went back to the smooth texture shown in the picture above.)

4. Pour 3 gallons warm water into a clean, large plastic bucket.  Use a 5 gallon bucket if you have one.  I didn't so this 4 gallon storage bin is doing double duty for me!

Add soap mixture and mix thoroughly.  Fill to the top with water.  Cover and let sit for 24 hours. 

5. Fill your containers with your fabulous new laundry soap!  I like my clothes extra clean smelling, so I use 1/2 cup (top load washer) per load, or 1 cup per load for hubby's stinky work clothes.  I used to have to wash his work clothes twice but I haven't had to with this recipe.  Plus it has been gentle on my skin and I have noticed that I have less skin irritation with this detergent than with others.  Also, I was a bit apprehensive using this as I was unsure as to whether or not my whites would become dingy, but I am happy to report that they are still bright!

The soap may gel and clump a bit, so give it a good shake before pouring.  There still may be some clumps but they have always dissolved completely in the wash for me.

(Note: some recipes like this call for an extra dilution ratio of 2:1 which will result in 8-10 gallons of laundry soap.  I didn't want to dilute that much so I left my soap as is with 4 gallons, still a hefty amount!)

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