2 Ingredient Laundry Detergent - Zero Waste - Natural - Economical

Hello there and welcome to Fairland Cottage. Thanks for joining me here today. I'm going to share with you a laundry powder. This is an alternative to soap nuts. Not everybody wants to use soap nuts for different reasons and also not everybody can get them. So this is a very simple recipe and I think it's stronger than soap nuts and also leaves the clothes smelling a bit nicer. So I'm going to show you how to make it. Let's get going. You'll need a bar of castile soap. Just a regular size will do and try and get palm free if you can. And two cups of baking soda. We're going to change the baking soda into washing soda. This is really easy to do. So get yourself an oven dish. This is an oven dish I don't use for cooking. If you are going to use for cooking just make sure you clean it really well afterwards. Baking soda and washing soda have different chemical compositions. So baking soda has a pH of about 8 or 9. It's quite alkaline. But washing soda has a pH of 11 and it's far more alkaline and can be irritating on the skin or in the lungs. So you wouldn't want to be eating it or sticking your nose right in it. You will need to preheat the oven. It needs to get really super hot and you leave it in there for an hour. While you're waiting for the washing soda to be made you can grate all the soap bar into a bowl. If you don't want to grate them just use a food processor. And I pick flavors that are known for cleaning things like tea tree, lemon. After about 30 minutes you can just take it out and just give a little mix. What you want to make sure is that all of the baking soda gets to the proper heat so that it can change to washing soda. And you will know the difference after an hour. It's grainier, it's grayer in color and it doesn't clump like baking soda. So it's ready. All that's left to do now is combine the two. Pop the soap granules into a bowl and then pop the washing soda in. Now I do it outside. Again it's because washing soda is so alkaline it is an irritant. I use a wooden spoon. I wouldn't touch it with your hands. Use gloves if you are and just outside gives more ventilation. Just give a little mix together and that is really it. All that's left to do is wash your clothes. I use about one or two tablespoons in the drum or in the little dispenser here and vinegar for the softener and this is just totally optional. I sometimes add some lemon oil drops in to the detergent. Lemon oil is just known to be good with getting rid of stains and cleaning. Pop it on and there you go. Your clothes are going to be really perfectly clean and then I just dry them outside in the fresh air. So that's it. Thanks very much for watching. Really hope you've liked this recipe. Let me know down below. I don't use any borax. It's actually banned in Ireland but you really don't need it. Washing soda and soap is all you need to get your clothes really clean and this is economical, this is natural, safe to use and it is going to last you a long time. So pop over, chat to me over on Instagram, say hi and share it with anyone you know and give it a thumbs up if you liked it and I look forward to seeing you next week. Bye!