Slowly working our way east, until we just plain run out of Canada... Then we'll come back west ;)
I am extremely excited about this, but the sticky wicket is that we have to be there by 14 January at the absolute latest. As in Halifax house sold, all belongings moved, and properly transplanted. To say I'm busy at the moment would be a complete understatement.
Because of this, needless to say I'm barely cooking at all, never mind taking photos of lovely, delicious dishes to share with all my invisible internet friends! So I unfortunately don't have a recipe for you today.
But...
More recently, one of my favourite yoga teachers over at Shanti Hot Yoga asked me to share the recipe. So I thought now was a good time (cause you're probably not getting much outta me until Christmas now!)
This recipe is crazy simple, but it does have to be followed closely because it's a chemical reaction and if you skip a step or try to combine steps it probably won't work. I speak from experience... (That being said, it still got my clothes clean) I also don't have any photos of the process because it makes such a crazy-bananas huge amount that I haven't made any since the summer.
The volume you make depends on how concentrated you want it to be. I typically make about 1.5 gallons because that's what fits in the dispenser I have in the laundry room, and I use 1/4 cup per load (unless it's a really dirty one). You could make 3 gallons and then use 1/4-1/2 cup depending how large or soiled your load is.
Homemade Laundry Detergent
Ingredients/materials:
2oz/56g laundry soap
1/4 cup borax
1/4 cup washing soda
Your favourite essential oils (optional; I love tea tree, rosemary, and mint)
Directions:
- Grate the laundry soap into a pot of hot water and heat on the stove until the soap is dissolved.
- Meanwhile in a large bucket stir borax and washing soda into some warm water until fully dissolved.
- Pour the hot soap mixture into the bucket and stir; it should immediately become cloudy and turn into a jelly-like substance.
- Add additional water to the final amount you want to make; stir again and set aside for about 24 hours. You can stir occasionally if you like (if you have kids they'll probably love this, it's actually quite interesting).
- After 24 hours, add your essential oils; I use between 40 and 60 drops in 1.5 gallons, depending on my mood. Start small and add to your liking. Or leave them out altogether if you're an unscented kind of person.
- Store your laundry soap in whatever sort of container you like; I highly recommend something you can shake up before using, because it will gel back together in-between each use, which can make it hard to pour if you have a small spout (as I learned when nothing would come out of my dispenser that has a spigot on the front)
- Make sure whatever you're stirring with is not used for food. I initially figured "its soap, it'll just wash off"... No such luck, as we discovered when we accidentally made soap-infused caramelised onions.
- Borax and washing soda are both usually in the laundry aisle at the grocery store. The laundry soap may be a little harder to find, I get it here at Bulk Barn.
- There is some controversy about borax: I believe myself that it is completely safe and much more natural than some of the preservatives in store-bought
anythinglaundry detergent. Most of the evidence I found was based on studies of people who work with borax (ie breathing in the dust in an industrial setting) rather than using it occasionally at home, but I encourage you to do your own research as well.
See you in St. John's!
