A few months ago I was having a glass of bubbles at a friend's place. Her parents who are loads of fun were there and somehow the conversation got domestic - I don't know how but we got on to the subject of washing clothes! My friend's mum was telling me that she had made her own clothes washing liquid! I immediately wanted to know more and coaxed the recipe out of her and into my phone and then had another glass of bubbles!
I discovered the recipe again just recently. The method is a little vague, no prize for guessing why! but I gave it a go anyway.
It produced 10 litres of beautifully fragrant clothes washing liquid. Here's the recipe:
Washing Liquid
1 cup Lux Flakes
1.5 litres of water
1 cup Borax - sodium borate
1 cup washing soda crystals - sodium carbonate
8-10 litres water
essential oils - I chose eucalyptus and lemongrass with a touch of lavender.
Step 1. Place the Lux flakes in a large saucepan with 1.5 litres of water and gently warm until the soap flakes dissolve.
Step 2. Add the Borax and soda crystal and stir until the mixture thickens.
Step 3. Take off the heat and gradually add up to 10 litres of water, stirring constantly. Step 4. When the mixture has cooled add essential oils of your choice and mix well.
I used 2 litre juice bottles to store my washing liquid in. Makes sure they are thoroughly washed out before filling them.
If you don't have a 10 litre bucket or container big enough, follow the instructions as above up to the end of step 2 then add 2 litres of water to the saucepan and divide among five two litre bottles, top up with warm water, close and shake well.
The first time I made this washing liquid I used the above recipe but only mixed in 8 litres of water. After a couple of days I checked the bottles and found the liquid was actually quite solid! I think I over cooked the mixture at step 2 causing the borax which is also a thickening agent to overreact. To remedy I diluted the mixture with water.
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