Crafting detergent for the laundry

For some reason leftists in France used to call capitalists “detergent sellers”. Probably because famous brands were known to exaggerate a lot the properties of their products. I don't know! What I do know is that I'm too lazy to think about buying detergent so I make my own with basic stuff.

And I mean really basic:

Water

Soap

Bicarbonate of soda

In an old passata jar of roughly 500ml, add some chips of soap. I use white « savon de Marseille » already chipped, which you can find in organic food stores. You do not need a lot of soap, I barely add a centimeter of it at the bottom of the glass.

Picture showing the amount of soap I use (135KB)

Add a small tea spoon of bicarb. Add warm water: cold water won't dilute the soap properly, hot water will burn your hands through the glass. Don't fill the whole thing, you need a bit of extra space to shake the mixture!

Shake it so that it looks homogeneous enough. It is ready to use! Just pour a teacup of it in the detergent compartment. I don't use softeners, except some white vinegar from time to time.

How does the laundry smell like? It does not smell anything, really. It's weird at first, but I like it that way. To give a bit of scent to clothes, we add small cloth bags with lavender flowers in our drawers.

Why don't you add essential oils for the smell? You need to add a lot of drops for the smell to stay after a washing cycle, because apparently the hot water dampens the fragrance. Also a friend told me that the oils do not degrade well when the wastewater is treated.

Does it remove stains? For adults yeah, I doubt it is enough for children clothes though! If I spilled a bit of oil on my clothes, I put a bit of montmorillonite (called « terre de Sommière » here) and let it sit for some hours or the whole night, and I remove the excess and wash the cloth as usual. Most of the time the stain is completely gone. The rest of the time I try to not care :D

Montmorillonite on Wikipedia

Are there surprises to expect? Not much! If it is stored in a cold room, or you used a bit too much soap, it can solidify into a firm blob. Shaking the bottle for a few seconds usually soften the mixture enough to use it — thus the need to leave a bit of air inside the container. If it does not want to move, use a stick to pierce through the blob and make it move from the sides; at some point it will give up and soften.

Alright, see you later!