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Sunday, November 29, 2009

Getting Clean

something I never see mentioned here is getting clean in such a situation. There is a certain comfort in taking a bath after a day in the dirt. supposing you are bugged out for some duration you'll need to make soap. You are gonna want to wash those dirty stinky clothes too.. I thought I'd start a thread with laundry in mind, because it's what we've done so far. We are learning things about soapmaking, I mean, not just recipes, but the science behind it. I thought some of you might have knowledge to share, too, so lets stop talking about getting dirty for a while and talk about getting clean.

This recipe does call for items that are purchased, but the economy of the purchase is outstanding. This one is great for anyone looking to cut corners on the budget.. we did it and even my grody clothes come clean. We used half this recipe and made enough washing powders for 144 loads, vs. the 48 loads in a $10 bottle of liquid. We bought enough ingredients to make the whole batch for $12, but only did half to "test the water" so to speak.

12 cups Borax
8 cups Baking Soda
8 cups Washing Soda
8 cups Bar soap (grated)

Mix all ingredients well and store in a sealed tub.
Use 1/8 cup of powder per full load.

It's recipe 9 here.
and there's some good FAQ there too.

there are certain things that need to happen and some ingredients that can be found occurring naturally. I'll be exploring natural sources of this stuff in coming months.
We're also gonna be making some lye soap soon. Gonna try different fats and flower oils, like gardenia, camelia, and banana-shrub, as well as working with the wood ashes.. you gotta get dirty to get clean ;)
we have also harvested some chinaberries for making soap. they contain saponin but apparently don't make suds. You can also make a solution from them to spray on garden plants.

so lets get clean. if you have some soapmaking info to share post it up!

I'd like to primarily focus on the science of it and finding natural sources. What makes soap "soapy"? Yucca solution will get dirt off your hands and skin but doesn't make suds... this kind of info will help you more in a long-term survival situation moreso than any single recipe with no knowledge of how it works. maybe the recipe and the money savings will get folks interested tho. Try it.. you'll save money.

I put some in a spray bottle and have been using it as a scent killer. our laundry has that "airy" clean smell. I like it.

If my posts seem wildly out of place at times, stop me please lol.

Quote:

Washing soda is Sodium Carbonate Decahydrate. Baking Soda is Sodium Bicarbonate. No they are not interchangeable and results will vary if substituting one for the other.
You don’t want to use a bar of soap heavy with perfumes or oils since this may transfer to your clothing (stains). They may also cause a chemical reaction with the other detergent ingredients.
You can use any soap that lists sodium palmate, sodium cocoate, sodium tallowate, etc. Just be sure you are using real soap and not detergent beauty bars with added free oils
...from that site, this is the kind of info we wanna get in here ;)

1 comment:

  1. Excellent guideline on how to make detergent at home. Get dirty and then get clean and green... lol...

    ReplyDelete