DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent

Hello, I'm back. I was feeling sickly the past couple of days so I took a break from blogging. I have been testing out a homemade liquid laundry detergent and am quite pleased with the results. The ingredients call for Dawn Ultra dishwashing soap which I did not have so I substituted a generic brand without any bad results. I believe that the Dawn Ultra gives your clean clothes that flowery clean laundry smell. Our clothes are sparkling clean but have no perfumey smell. La! Still, no one in the house seems to mind especially since the clothes are fresh, clean and bright. Our clothes have never looked brighter (unless bleach was added with the store bought detergent). Anyway, ze recipe:

3 Tablespoon Washing Powder
3 Tablespoon Borax
Water (La!)
1 Tablespoon Dawn Ultra or whatever you have on hand
1 gallon jug

I used a cleaned milk jug and poured finished product into a smaller old laundry container. I emphasized "cleaned" because I don't want anyone assuming that I used a milk jug that was dirty.

Add washing powder and borax to jug. Add 4 cups hot water (hot tap water is just dandy). Shake to dissolve the powder mix. Add dishwashing liquid. Add cold water until the gallon container is full, gently agitate and voila, all done. Use at least 1/4 cup per load. (BTW, this makes a watery detergent)

As you can see, I am not only being thrifty but eco-friendly as well. I have recycled the milk jug and laundry container. Plus, no phosphates. La!

This detergent has passed our most difficult test - - - the smelly cigarette smell stuck in the kids clothes when they come back from a weekend at their dad's - - -  we don't smoke but he and his roommate both smoke. Somehow, their clothes always come back smelling like smoke even after he washes them. I used the homemade detergent on the stinky things and surprise, surprise, they came out smoke free. La! I was worried that the detergent would FAIL!
Random picture of the day:

"mew"

Lotus is no longer a little gray kitten even though we still call her "the grey baby". I had forgotten how tiny she used to be until I saw this picture of her. I will be back tomorrow (hopefully). I started this post over the weekend but didn't finish. Monday was a little rough for some reason. Home school seemed hectic and busy. Hmmm...  Trying to remember why it was a little hectic. Nope, no can recall, I must be tired and in need of coffee. Yes, I need coffee. That'll help. Adios, peeps.