Belinda Moore

I’ve been making this for over 10 years.  I’m not sure if it was a Jackie French recipe I first used, or another book or article…  I’m so grateful for this recipe as it has saved us thousands of dollars over the years, costing only 20c/L to make at current prices!  I found that when we went away to stay with family recently, some of us got mild skin irritations.  It could have been the soap, water or washing powders (I’m not sure).  But now we’re back to our rainwater, mild soap and “washing goop” the rashes are disappearing.

Makes 10L (or 80+ washes)

Equipment:

Huge stock pot, or 10L bucket + medium saucepan

Stirring spoon

Measuring cup

Measuring jug

Grater

* I keep the cup measurer and grater with the ingredients in the laundry.  The other items are glass or stainless steel and I use our regular kitchen ones.

Ingredients

1.5L water + 8L water

1 cake soap (any that you prefer - laundry, bathroom, vegetable-oil, palm-oil free, it doesn’t matter!) - you could use 1 cup of Lux soap flakes here too, but it’s more expensive

1/2 cup washing soda crystals

1/2 cup borax (optional - but was in original recipe, I’m not sure it makes much difference)

* There is some question about the safety of the use of borax.  I encourage you to do your own research and decide.  Borax is included in the recipe to aid stain removal.

several drops of blue vegetable dye (food colouring - optional)

several drops of essential oils of your choice (tea tree, lavender and lemon myrtle are my favourites - optional)

Method

Into a saucepan or stock pot, add 1.5L water and the grated cake of soap or soap flakes.  Stir these over a medium heat until all soap is dissolved.  It’s important not to rush this step so that your final result is a smooth gel-like liquid.  Once the soap has dissolved, add your washing soda and borax (if using it).  Stir until this thickens into a gel consistency.  Remove from heat and add the blue drops and essential oil.

If you’re using a huge stock pot, add 8L of water and stir well.  If you’re using a bucket, add the goop and water into the bucket, then mix well.  Either way works fine!

Once combined, check for fragrance and colour.  I add the blue to make our whites whiter.  I haven’t scientifically tested this, but it creates a lovely blue goop in any case!

I have several empty laundry liquid bottles which I’ve removed the labels from.  They’re a large size and have a wide opening - one of the ‘green’ brands from the supermarket.  I use a jug to decant the green goop into these bottles.  Seal them, rinse them and store on the shelf in the laundry.  Others leave their goop in a bucket with lid, but I think I’d make a total mess of that (let alone the Dad and the kids if they happened to use the laundry!)

Then it’s clean-up time.  My soap-only utensils go back to the laundry.  I scrub and rinse the pot, spoon and jug well, making sure there’s no soapy residue for the next meal.  Ick!  This goop makes the pot and sink shine so bright, and makes me wonder if I should be washing up in this stuff too!

I use about 1/2 cup of this per load in my extra-large front loader.  I pre-treat bad stains with a stain-removing soap from the supermarket.  Sometimes I soak clothes in a bucket as well.  Generally, though, all things are washed in this goop and come out clean, bright, fresh-smelling and non-irritating.  And living on a farm with red soil, we know how to create dirty clothes around here!

I recently trialled the sensitive version of a popular (expensive) laundry liquid for front loaders.  I didn’t notice that the washing was any cleaner, just a different perfume.  The purchased liquid retails at about $6 for 500ml (concentrate).

I’d love to hear from anyone else using this, or a similar recipe, or anyone with questions.  Please leave a comment.