★★★★★
I bought a box of Borax for the first time and have started making 100% natural laundry detergent, along with a natural soap (Castille is what I used) and Soda Ash (or 'Washing Soda' - which is a more concentrated form of Sodium Bicarbonate/Baking Soda. I bought mine from an Art Supply which was sold as '97% Soda Ash' (people use it to set tye-dye and natural dyes. I read that Arm and Hammer Washing Soda is only about 23 or 30% Soda Ash and has bleach and chemicals added).
There are other ways of washing laundry naturally like soap nuts, etc... I haven't gotten to trying those yet, but just wanted to say how easy and rewarding this was. It's not as laborous as you think! You can find recipes online. It is just a matter of hand grating the soap (which is kind of fun, let the kids do it!), then dissolving the soap in a pan of hot water on the stove, + adding borax and soda ash. White Vinegar can be added to the wash as a natural fabric softener. And for good measure, why not dry some clothes out in the sun! My laundry is coming out beautifully (especially the cottons).
What was once a boring chore is turning into a labor of love. Ok, maybe not EVERY day! But it's inspired me to make many similar changes and get back to the old fashioned ways of life. Afterall, don't they always portray women singing at the clothesline? But we don't do that at the washing machine, do we? Makes me feel like we've lost something there.
