New Laundry Detergent

Awhile ago I gave you homemade recipes for laundry detergent and dish detergent. Both formulas used Borax, a substance which is found in many homemade cleaning recipes. Borax has had some bad press lately which leads me to believe it is not the best thing to use around the house. Read this entry here from Passionate Homemaking about Borax.

I decided awhile ago to quit using/making the homemade laundry detergents and dish detergents until I was able to find a recipe that was easy to make and store. Until that time, I have been using Charlie's Soap as my laundry detergent. I love this product. It makes my clothes smell "clean" without using any fragrances. It is non-toxic, biodegradable and hypoallergenic. It is gentle enough for babies' clothing and strong enough to wash cloth diapers! I know it might not work for everyone with super sensitive skin, but it works for us.

Soap nuts are another option which I have yet to try, but am very curious about. I have heard good things about these nuts. They are the dried fruit of the Chinese Soapberry tree. How cool is that? A 100% natural option. Check out Passionate Homemaking's review here and here. My friend also tried these and liked them-- see her post here. I think once I run out of Charlie's Soap I will try this option.

I haven't discovered a great dish detergent product yet, so I don't have much to offer on that subject. However, if you are interested in making your own dish detergent, here is a recipe you can use (courtesy of Passionate Homemaking again). I haven't made that recipe yet, but hope to soon enough.

That's it for today.