Earth Friendly Laundry soap

[WVsnowflake]

Making Earth- and people-friendly laundry soap is simple and inexpensive. For starters, try this easy whitening formula from Natural Home magazine:

Bleach/Brightener Substitute
1 cup hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup lemon or grapefruit juice
12 cups water

Store in a labeled plastic jug. Add 2 cups per load.

[WVsnowflake]

Simple Washing Powder

16 cups baking soda
12 cups borax
8 cups grated castile or glycerin soap flakes*
3 tablespoons lavender, lemon, or grapefruit essential oil
Combine baking soda, borax, and soap flakes, add essential oil, and mix with a wire whisk. Use 1/8 cup of powder per load. This recipe makes enough powder to last a family of four one year.


Pre-Wash Stain Spray


1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons ammonia
3 cups water
Stir together and fill a labeled spray bottle.

Spray on heavily soiled spots just before washing (as usual, test a hidden spot for colorfastness first).

[califgirl]

Those are some great ideas. Worth a try. Thank you Snowflake.

[WVsnowflake]

you can add vinegar in the rinse cycle and it will remove all soap from your clothes and they won't be stiff when you dry them.

[tentfire]

Vinegar is GREAT to use instead of fabric softener. Since I tried it, I have not gone back to the waxy store bought stuff. You MUST use the white vinegar.... the cider kind can sometimes stain your clothes. You just use about 1/4 cup per load/ maybe 1/3 cup for a super big load.... put it right in the little softener reservoir and that's it. Course, if you want to add fragrance just add 2 or 3 drops of your favorite essential or fragrance oil in with the vinegar. Any vinegar smell dissipates as the clothes dry. The vinegar is.... natural, doesn't put chemicals in your clothes, leaves your clothes soft, removes static, removes all the soap... including from your washer leaving it much cleaner, keeps the mineral deposits out of your washer, and sets the colors in your clothes so they stay brighter longer, not to mention it costs FAR LESS than the fabric softener. Now, why don't the laundry companies tell you this? Because they can't patent vinegar.