Another Reason to Make Your Own Cleaners

So I have been making my own home cleaners for quite awhile now and finding this tid bit of info has made me feel even better about my decision. I don't know if you've seen or maybe even use a product called 7th Generation, but they promote themselves as being a "natural" based product and non-toxic.  Well check out what I found. They use a preservative called methylisothiazolinone and its in their hand wash and dish soap. Methylisothiazolinone is a NEUROTOXIN that is absorbed through the skin and it can cause neurological damage to a fetus in utero and cause all kinds of allergic reactions. Um... NO THANK YOU!!! If this is whats in the more expensive and more "natural" cleaning products I don't even what to begin to think what's in the cheaper stuff and what it could do to my family and myself. I'll just stick to my homemade stuff with essential oils and call it a day!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

So I have had homemade laundry detergent sitting on my Pinterest board for a long time and I finally decided to give it a go.  All I can say is why have I waited for so long!!! I can't believe I have been waisting so much money.  This is so economical and it works just as well!  Here's what I did.  I grated about a 1/3 of a Fels Naptha bar.  This is way easier than I thought it was going to be.  I also grated about a 1/3 of a bar of good smelling soap purely for the scent of it.

 I thought grating the soap was going to take a long time so I set my son up with a movie and took a seat with my grater, bowl and soap and started grating.  Thank heavens it went faster than I thought!

 

 Next I added the soap gratings and six cups of water to a large pot.  I turned the heat on to medium-high and heated it until all the soap gratings had melted.

 Once all the gratings were melted I added 1/2 cup of borax and 1/2 cup washing soda to the pot and mixed it thoroughly.  I had an empty larger sized laundry bottle that I saved and a large Costco juice jug that I cleaned out and used those as my containers.  I divided the mixture between the two jugs and then filled the rest with water.  I also added a few drops of wild orange essential oils.  Once everything was in the jugs I sealed them well and then gave them a good shaking.  Then I let them sit.  Occasionally I would go and give them another shaking throughout the day, but I gave it a good 24 hours before I used it.  

I think this stuff works great! It is a little chunky(i know that sounds gross), but if you can get past that it's totally worth it!   I use about 1/4 - 1/2 cup depending on my load size and I use it in a HE washer and haven't had any issues! Totally recommend this stuff!

So here's the recipe

1/3 bar Fels Naptha bar- grated

1/3 bar good smelling bar soap - grated 

1/2 cup washing soda

1/2 cup borax

essential oil of choice - optional

I have a friend that uses a large bucket instead of the individual containers so that is an option as well.  You can find her over at http://theeverydayhomeschool.blogspot.com