This was one of the first recipes I made up over 10 years ago, and it remains one of the most popular, with people creating it regularly all over the country. Groups of women get together, open a bottle of wine, and make buckets
of laundry liquid, which they share and take home. This makes a bucketful.
½ bar (60g) Castile, vegetable-based or Sunlight soap, grated
1.5 litres of water
½ cup washing soda
50g or 1/4 cup borax
6 litres hot water
1.Place soap in a saucepan with the first quantity of water and heat on low until soap is dissolved. Stir in washing soda and borax.
2.Stir for a few minutes until thickened and remove from heat. (If you’re using Castile or vegetable-based soap, it won’t thicken straight away, but don’t worry, it will overnight in the bottles.)
3.Add 1 litre of hot water to a bucket. Add soap mixture and mix well. Fill bucket with another 5 litres of hot water and mix well. Pour into old milk bottles or other containers and set aside for 24 hours or until mixture thickens.
4.Use ½ cup of mixture per load. It is easy to squeeze from the bottles, as it is quite gluggy.
Tip: Add about 20 drops lavender oil at the end before pouring into the bottles for a nice fragrance, or try eucalyptus oil, which is great for woollens.
** It must be a soap bar to set.*
