Homemade Laundry Powder

I have been buying commercial laundry powder for years. I loved the claims that my laundry powder box made; removes stains without scrubbing garment, won't make colours run in the wash, removes every bacteria known to human kind......

A year ago I decided to run the gauntlet of the laundry aisle and make my own laundry powder. I was inspired by my blog guru, Rhonda Jean of www.down---to---earth.blogspot.com who had a homemade laundry powder recipe. I have had nothing but success with this recipe but recently decided to ditch the soap flakes and instead added bicarb soda.

Warning: if you love the smell of chemical laden laundry powder do not use this recipe as your clean laundry will only smell of sunshine and fresh air!

Ingredients:

2 cups of bi-carb soda (found in cooking aisle of supermarket)
2 cups of nappy soaker powder (found in laundry aisle)
2 cups of borax (found in pest aisle)
2 cups of washing soda powder (found in laundry aisle - do not buy the washing soda crystals as they're too big)

Note: Add a dash of lavendar oil to the powder if you like a scent to your clothes

Method:

Just mix all the ingredients together in a tub and store with a lid on. I use two tablespoons per wash and don't dissolve the powder before adding to the washing machine.

It cost me $15 to buy all the ingredients and that quantity will make two batches of powder which will last me around 4-5 months!

I use this recipe as a laundry soaker as well for dirty nappies and stained clothes.

My clothes are always clean and fresh and I even managed to convert my mother (who has been using the same washing powder for many years).

Happy Washing.

Household Cleaning Products

Australians reportedly spend hundreds of millions of dollars per year on cleaning products for our homes.  Are we healthier and happier as a result?  I for one have jumped off the chemical bandwagon and have opted for a more natural approach to cleaning my house and clothes.  It not only saves me money but my house is clean and smells lovely!

I have put together a simple collection of basic ingredients for my cleaning kitty.  Many years ago Justin and I invested in a steam mop.  I have come to realise that people either love or hate these mops but I am a big fan.  It simply uses steam to clean the hard floor surfaces in our home and marks/dirt come away with little effort.  The pads are made of cloth and are easy to wash and dry.  If there are marks that are 'baked' on to our tiles, I simply dab a small amount of eucalyptus oil on a rag and rub it over the mark.  Voila - marks come off straight away.

Eucalyptus oil is an ingredient that I use in many of my home made cleaning products.  My all purpose spray is simply vinegar, eucalyptus oil and a small drop of washing up detergent (to disperse the oil) and I use this to clean down bench tops, shower and bath.  I also spray the toilet seat and surface with this spray. 

I use vinegar and a small amount of bicarbonate of soda to clean the toilet bowl.  I then drop a small amount of eucalyptus oil in the bowl to make it smell lovely and fresh. 

I alternate between using a glass cleaning mit and vinegar/newspaper to clean the glass mirrors in the bathrooms.  I have read that newspaper these days doesn't clean glass well because of the type of ink they use in their print but I haven't come across any problems in using this.

I haven't purchased paper towel in years so newspaper (the free weekly one) is all I have at my disposal for window/glass cleaning.