The girls think it is great fun to set up a wash bucket, complete with antique washboards.
Ainslie makes our laundry detergent using my triple rendered lye soap. (I get the fats for it from the butcher when I buy suet for the birds. I purchase it in huge quantities and freeze it for later use.)
The kids have become quite adept at quick, thorough washing.
Mimi loves to hang everything on the line. In the heat we have had lately, where the daytime temperatures reach 105, clothes dry in a matter of minutes. What an energy savings!
The only draw back is the coastal thunderstorms that roll in regularly. We have to dash to save the laundry!
Homemade Laundry Soap
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or lye soap
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat until soap melts. Add washing soda and borax. Stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into a large bucket. Add soap mixture and stir. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir thoroughly. Let mixture sit for 24 hours until it gels into a soupy consistency. We use ½ cup per load.
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or lye soap
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat until soap melts. Add washing soda and borax. Stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into a large bucket. Add soap mixture and stir. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir thoroughly. Let mixture sit for 24 hours until it gels into a soupy consistency. We use ½ cup per load.
2 comments:
These photos are great! I, too, clip the clothespins to my skirt for easy access while I'm hanging things to dry. The laundry soap recipe is great, very similar ingredients to what I make, and it works wonderfully in the front loader washers. As an added bonus, clothes smell clean and fresh, not perfumed.
Thank you for the recipe for the laundry soap! I will definetly try it and share it with my friends. We all hang out our laundry to dry, especially sheets! Love that! I have wanted to find a recipe for lye soap. Can you share that too? Thank you so much. I am going to put your blog on my blog roll. Come see me too.
Carole
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