Dirty laundry. It's inevitable. It's always there. Even after a
days work of washing all the clothes, when you go to bed there's a new pile.
It's the one task you can never beat. I dislike doing laundry, and living in a
camper it seems to be an even bigger task now. We do not have the room to get a
washer/dryer in our little camper. So when it's time to do laundry we have to
pack up the car and head over to my parents’ home to get it done.
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| The never ending dirty laundry pile! |
Let's talk about the expense and chemicals that are involved in
laundry. First off there are water bills, electric, detergents, stain remover,
sometimes bleach, and dryer sheets. That can all ad up fast, especially if you
have a larger family! And the chemicals, are you ready for this? Optical
brighteners are used in many detergents now a days. Optical brighteners make
your laundry look less yellow and more vibrant in colors by increasing the blue
light reflected. These brighteners can cause skin irritations/allergic
reactions as well as promote bacterial mutations. Phenols can cause toxicity
through out the whole body, with symptoms such as pimples and hives, as well as
swelling. Here’s a biggie! Petroleum distillates has been linked to cancer. If
that’s not enough it can also cause lung inflammation and damage, as well as
damage mucus membranes. Artificial fragrance… who doesn’t like the laundry
smelling good and fresh?... can cause allergies and skin/eye irritations. EDTA
and sodium sulfate have both been connected to asthma attacks and skin
irritations. Is there more stuff in the detergents, yes, but this is my short
list of boy do we need change!
Why is this chemical list important? Well besides the side
effects, your skin is an organ. All of those chemicals stay on your clothing
and in return your clothing rest on your skin, therefore those chemicals rest
on your skin. Once again, your skin is an organ, meaning it soaks up those
chemicals that are sitting our your skin 24//7. The only time your skin is not
resting against your clothing or sheets or towels (on average) is when you are
in the shower. So really it is about 24/7 your skin is soaking up possible
chemicals.
Since there are six of us using the washer at my parents we make
our detergent by the 5 gallons. It is simple to make and anyone can do it! Are
you ready for the ingredients? It’s a long list!!!! Here it is: water, fels-naptha
soap bar, borax, and washing soda. What might the start up cost be to do this?
Less than $10. With fels-naptha being about 97 cents a bar and borax or washing
soda less than $4 a box (Walmart prices) It’s easy and cheap! You can add
essential oils to the mix for a nicer smell, but I will add that it has a fresh
lemony smell to begin with.
Heres how it works:
What you need- Grader/knife, 5 gallon bucket, pot, fels-naptha,
washing soda, borax, water
1. Grade (I use a knife and thinly slice) the fels-naptha and
melt it in a pot with water on the stove. Amount of water is not important as
you will fill the 5 gallon bucket with water too. Stay with it as it may boil
over the pot if not stirred.
2. Fill your 5
gallon bucket about half way full with hot water. Add ½ cup of washing soda and 1 cup of borax to
the bucket and then pour in the pot of melted soap and water. Now stir until
the borax and washing soda is dissolved. Be careful not to burn yourself!
3. Once it is all dissolved, fill the bucket to the top with hot
water. Place the lid on and sit it aside over night.
In the morning you will have a mix of gel and water. It’s ready!
You can stir up the gel and make it more liquidly, but we don’t and we haven’t
had any issues with it. Use ½ cup for a large load of laundry or ¼ cup for a small load. Skip the fabric
softener and use distilled white vinegar. You know have yourself some super
cheap, much healthier detergents that clean your laundry. We have been happy
with this combo for almost a year now. We clean muddy little boys clothing,
sweaty work out clothes, stinky/greasy pizza hut uniforms, everyday wear, dog
beds/blankets and we are very pleased.
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| Drying shorts, socks, shirts, and dress Camper Style! |
Now to replace that bleach and dryer bill… Use a solar dryer!
The clothes line!! You can save upwards of $30 a month! Isn’t that awesome!
Plus it smells great, you don’t need to have a large yard to do it (you can
even dry clothes in an apartment or camper). It is free! Can’t beat the price.
All you need to do this is good rope and clothes pins or drying racks and
hangers! The sun helps to white.
You may say you don’t like stiff jeans and towels. Well, the
little secret your dryer doesn’t want you to know is that it slowly dissolves
fibers while it’s shooting hot air into your clothing. As the fibers are being
broken apart they get stiff when air dried. We bought some new towels. sheets
and jeans. They have never been in the dryer and 4 months later of air drying
they are still as soft as the day we bought them.
Give it a try, its easy and cheap and healthy! What can it hurt?
Hope you love it as much as we do!
This blog is linked to:
Homestead Barn Hop #63 
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