I just want to share something that I've done since I started washing my son's clothes. I've used 1/2 cup of vinegar and 1/2 cup of baking soda in lieu of store-bought detergent. The clothes don't fade, they don't shrink, the vinegar softens and also disinfects, and the baking soda helps whiten naturally. The clothes do NOT smell like vinegar afterward! It's all rinsed off because it's all natural. They don't really have a smell anymore...unless they smelled really funny before, then they just smell clean after the wash.

If there is a big hard to remove stain, soak the clothing in baking soda/water mixture for an hour or two (depending on the stain). Unlike bleach, it won't eat up the fibers.

And it's SOOO cheap!!! Only about $3 per 1-2 months (depending on how much laundry you do a month).

You said it whitens naturally,
I am confused.
Is this ok for colors too?

Fabulous! I've been trying to come up with a safe home made alternative to laundry and dish detergent for a while now. I will definetly be giving this a try (especially since I have both ingredients in the house.)

BTW, do you know of any way to make a green dish detergent?

Namaste,
Damianna

I'm interested in a green dish detergent as well. [smile]

Awesome! Â*I have been using White Vinegar in with my usual regular washing powder because it whitens whites and brightens colors.

And, if you can, hang the clothes outside so you don't use the dryer as much.

I might have to look into this and start using baking soda instead of what I do use.

As for dish soap....I don't know hot to make any, but Dawn is about as green as they come. Â*When we were in Girl Scouts and were going to go camping they said to use ONLY dawn for the dishes because it is the only dish soap safe for the environment. Â*They said that if it soaks into the ground it won't hurt anything. Â*Also, Dawn is what they use when they clean off birds and such that get covered in oil from oil spills.

seakla wrote:
And, if you can, hang the clothes outside so you don't use the dryer as much.

haha I would love to hang my cloths but I live at a college and I think people would enjoy too much seeing my delicates hehe [cool]

thanks for the recipe haha Im definitly going to try this for my cloths.