Home Made Laundry Soap

I was over at Creating with Wisdom a few weeks ago and was inspired by Vicky who was making home made soap and thought I would like to try that but not yet.

A couple of days later I found Our Simple Country Life and Esther hosts a weekly Hearts for Home link up and there was a post in the link party titled 10 Money Saving Tips over at Hopeful Future I was intrigued so went to have a look.  One of the tips was about making your own laundry soap so decided to give it a go. Her recipe and the one I have tried is from The Family Homestead.com . Making Homemade Laundry Soap By Crystal Miller

Ingredients

• 1/3 bar of soap (approx 50 grams) you need a pure soap not synthetic.
• 1/2 cup Washing Soda this is the RED bag (It is not lectric soda or bicarb)
• 1/2 cup Borax Powder (done some reading about this as we have a grey water system and the laundry water is used to water the garden so will be leaving this ingredient out in my next batch as too much can kill worms in the garden)
• Water ( 6 cups hot water + 4 cups boiling water + 5.5 Litres cold water = 8 Lt)

I found all my items at the local Woolworths supermarket in the laundry isle.

Method

• Measure out the borax and washing soda and set aside

• Grate the soap into a pot 
• Add 6 cups of hot water 

• Heat on medium stove stir till soap is dissolved
• Add borax and washing soda and stir till all the powder is dissolved.  When you add the powder the mix bubbles up in the pot so add it slowly.
• Pour into a bucket
• Add 4 cups of boiling water and mix well.  ( I did some research and another lady used cold water one day and it made the soap separate so stick with the boiling water)
• Now add 5.5 Litres of tap water and mix well.

• Leave it to stand over night and set.

• Use 1/4 cup per load of washing.

The process took me 15 min to do and was not very complex.  I did find that the finer you grate the soap the faster it dissolves.

While I was searching for information I discovered a great pdf. document by by Tashia Calhoun with photo's and step by steps to down load and print: Guide to Homemade Laundry Soap


I have been using this soap for nearly a week now and I am impressed with the quality of the wash.  I was a little skeptical with the first load as there were no bubbles but the colour of the water after the wash convinced me that it works.

Other Bloggers making soap ....

Megan from over at Mommy Minded sent me a powder recipe as an alternative to liquid soap.
Julie from over at Towards Sustainability has a powder recipe which I think I will try next.
Lyn from over at Mom starting from Scratch has some interesting Green Home Making Recipe's 
Green House Healing has a great page on natural products to use at home
Vicky over at Creating with Wisdom made some soap bars.

If you have blogged about your recipe let me know and I'll add your links in here :)


The Cost Comparison:

I normally use Home brand Laundry Powder at A$3-69 for 4 kg.  The recommended dose of 125 grams per load = 12 cents per load

Home Made Laundry Soap cost me:
100 grams Borax = 86 cents
130 grams Soda = 44 cents
50 grams pure soap = 32 cents
8 litre water = 1 cent
8 Litre divided by 4 = 32 loads of washing
Total product used to make soap = $1-62 / 32 loads = 4 cents per load.

Have you made laundry soap and how well did it work for you ? I keen to see other recipes and if you know of any recipes without borax ?

My mission now is to find a better way to store my soap rather than this 8 litre container in the basin.  Ideas anyone ????

Blessings

Treasured Moments {11}

Do you find yourself falling into a pattern of daily grind, skipping the 'fun' activities because you don't have time or lack energy?Do creative arts, nature walks, drama, read aloud or spontaneous acts seem only a distant dream in your life?
Yet these Treasured Moments shared with loved ones uplift us, nurture our soul, remind us of the beauty and joy in our lives.
We want Treasured Moments for ourselves, for our children, for our families but how can we make it happen?
... Commitment ... Encouragement ... Support ... Ideas ... Plans.

I invite you to join us every Saturday and share your plans and ideas, your targets and goals and your stories ... your 'Treasured Moments'. In this way we may inspire one another, encourage ourselves and start achieving our dreams. Hosted by Erin at Seven Little Australians and Counting

My Treasured Moments this week are:

1.
Celebrating my 20th Wedding Anniversary with Paul

2.
Discovering a great serries of books on character lessons at a second hand book store.  Look out for Tuesdays Treasure next week !

3.
Miss J being awarded her Cert III in retail.

4.
My annual trip to Koorong with two friends today.

5.
Attending a work dinner hosted by Paul's work and each of us winning a hamper!

6.
Making home made laundry soap.  

To join in you are welcome to add your post on Treasured Moments 34 at  Seven Little Australians and Counting using the Mr. Linky form (please link to the individual post) and include a link back to Erins post. If you haven't a blog we would still love to hear your voice, just leave your stories in the comments.

Blessings

The Home School Mother's Journal {1}

The Home school Mother’s Journal began as a single post on a Friday morning over at The Homeschool Chick, and turned into a link-up for home school mothers across the blog-O-sphere to share a piece of their journey with one another each week. The link party is open from Friday to Monday so join me in The Home school Journal and lets encourage one another on our home school journey.

In my life this week…

 
In our home school this week…
We made home made laundry soap together and had a look at a liquid powered clock. We are working at recognising larger numbers.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
Take an inventory of those who are in your support network and make sure that they are pulling you forward and not keeping you back.
Are these people like minded or just a hindrance ?
Are they an encouragement or a discouragement to you ?
Do you have some one in your sphere who inspires and encourages you ?
It's this support network that will make or break your journey.

I am inspired by…
The commitment of Mothers inspiring and encouraging others through their blogs and books.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
This week was my 20th wedding anniversary, Paul took me to Daylesford and Sir N stayed over at his Granny for the night.
My mom took him with her to an appointment and then together they caught a tram, train and bus to get home. It was a great exercise for Sir N to see how the public transport system works and how he can use it to get home.

My favorite thing this week was…
My 20th wedding anniversary and making home made laundry soap.

What’s working/not working for us…
 Loving the weekly co-op for art.  Sir N is experiencing variety in his art because of this.  I am really pleased to see his progress and willingness to try new things.

The structure of my day is not right.  I need to find a better routine so that I can accomplish my goals in home schooling.  I am finding that having teens and one just starting school is a difficult juggling act. .....

Questions/thoughts I have…
I am really concerned with attitude at the moment and just wondering how to tackle this particular issue in a constructive way to make active measurable achievements.

Things I’m working on…
Still trying to work my way through my new beginnings commitments.  This is by no fault of the books, it's mine and my lack of organized time.  Due to illness I had to put a hold on my progress but this week my aim is to clear all the clutter that has taken over every available spot in my home.
I also want to actively work on scripture memory with Sir N I have let this lapse.

I’m reading…
A book by Sally Clarkson titled: The Ministry of Motherhood. 

I’m cooking…
I am researching more gluten free recipes for us as I would like to try this approach to cooking as I think that I might be sensitive to gluten ...

I’m grateful for…
Paul who has shown me how much he loves me this week.  I am grateful that my children are healthy and strong.  I am grateful for the friends and family who have supported and encouraged me this week.


A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
I was very pleased when I went looking for Paul and Sir N this week and found them thus:

This photo is precious to me because now that I have teenagers I realise just how quickly this phase of life dissappears and this photo captured a moment in time with Sir N. I used to think this is the way it always will be and it's not so I am learning to rest in the now and enjoy the moments as they will be a thing of the past far too quickly.

I encourage you to enjoy the here and now of where your children are at because tomorrow those moments will be a distant faded memory.

Blessings

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