Passing the Time

One of the things I did this week to keep busy was make eight gallons of homemade laundry detergent. Not a particularly exciting way to pass the time I know, but very practical. The best part is, I probably won't need to make any more until about August.

For me, homemade detergent is actually easier than store bought. Everything I buy has to be bagged at the store, unbagged and packed in a tote, loaded into the car, unloaded at the dock, and finally put on a luggage cart so  the ferry can bring it over to the Island. Since detergent is mostly water, dealing with the ingredients is a lot less work than lugging big bottles around. (The plumber told us not to use powdered detergent, or dishwasher soap, since we have a sewer grinder.) Plus, a few years, the Grand Hotel was getting rid of 50 pound bags of washing soda. I still haven't used even a fourth of the bag I stashed in the basement. So all I need to get to the Island are small bars of Fels-Naptha soap and the occasional box of  Borax. 

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent 

1 bar of Fels-Naptha or Zote soap, grated (I prefer Fels-Naptha)
1 cup washing soda
1 cup Borax
Water

You will also need:

Large pot
Blender (immersion or stand) or a hand mixer
Containers to hold approximately four gallons of liquid
Funnel for filling containers

Get your biggest pot; I use the biggest pot we have - the one we use to boil spaghetti noodles. Fill it with water and set in on the stove on high heat. While the water is heating, grate the bar of soap.  Put the grated soap into the water so it can dissolve. This usually takes a few minutes (I think stirring helps the soap dissolve.) You want hot, but not boiling water. (If it boils, you'll get suds.) Once the soap has dissolved, slowly add in the Borax and washing soda - letting what you add dissolve before you add more. Once you're happy that everything has dissolved, turn the stove off and let the mixture cool. This takes a while so I usually just leave mine to cool overnight.

As the detergent cools it will congeal into a thick mass. I like to use my hands to break up the goo into smaller globs. (If you have kids at home, this is a perfect job for them - as long as you're up for lots of booger jokes.) After the mass isn't a mass anymore and more liquidy, use the blender to liquify it even more. The blender / mixer really breaks down the goo and it makes mixing in the water later much easier.

As I finish blenders full, I use the funnel to pour even amounts of the stuff into four, one-gallon jugs. Once I've got the entire pot full blended and into the gallon jugs, I fill the jugs with warm water; giving each one a really good shake to make sure the detergent and the water are well mixed. That's it. Then it's off to the basement until I need it. Usually I give the jug a little shake each time I use the detergent because sometimes it does separate a little (though as yet I haven't discovered a why one batch does while another batch doesn't.) I use about a half-cup of detergent per load of laundry.

I think for tomorrow's project, the kids and I will make pasties...