Henry, Laundry Boy

Henry has decided that he wants to do his own laundry.

That means he comes home from school and takes off his clothes, and wants to wash them right then for the next day. Then he goes and makes his lunch for tomorrow.  That's how we had the talk about how a turkey sandwich has to sleep in the fridge.

I didn't discover all of the parts of his routine until a few days into his commitment. I asked if he wanted me to show him how to use the washing machine and he said I ALREADY FIGURED IT OUT.
Duh.

I asked him if he knew where the detergent was and he said WHAT'S DETERGENT?

So I made him a check list and taped it to the door of the washing machine. He doesn't read it, but it made me feel better.

We also ran out of detergent due to the number of secret loads he continued to start.

So I got a recipe to make our own detergent!
It's supposed to be less expensive, it had been on my list of things to do, and I was worried about polluting the earth with all that yumminess in the smells of Gain and Tide.


I ordered the ingredients off Amazon and got an old Pretzel Stix container from Corinne's preschool:

Then I shredded that Fels-Naptha soap, like it was a block of cheese. That was probably the most annoying part. It smelled good, though.

I labeled the container and put a date on it, so we can watch and see if it really is a savings based on what we were using up.

I do love the way it smells - although subtle - and I love the non-polluting part.  We've been using it a month now and I am glad to recommend mixing and using your own detergent.

I only mixed a third of the recipe, and we are not even a third of the way through it after 4 weeks. Sweet.

Here's the recipe I used (though I am wide open to suggestions and improvements):

Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe

·       One 4 lb 12 oz box of Borax

·       One 4 lb box of baking soda

·       One 3 lb 7 oz box of washing soda

·       5.25 lbs of OxyClean (any brand including store brand)

·       3 bars of grated Fels Naptha soap (Zote also works.)

Mix all ingredients thoroughly and store in a closed container.

For 1/3 of Laundry Detergent Recipe

·       25.33 oz of Borax = 3 and 1/8 cups

·       21.28 oz of baking soda = 2.66 cups

·       18.33 oz of washing soda = 2 and ¼ cup

·       28 oz of OxyClean = 3.5 cups

·       1 grated bar of Fels Naptha soap (or Zote)

Mix ingredients thoroughly and store in a closed container.

Henry probably would come and help you with your laundry, too.  If you make him a turkey sandwich...for tomorrow.