DAY 1 OF SELF ISOLATION

Day 1

(Some of the links below may earn me revenue. You may find you would like to buy them. Click on them at your own peril!!)

My traveling companions, who love social interaction of all kinds, think it's Day 2. They are including the day we landed. I'm not. I'm going to milk this for all it's worth.
Today, we unpacked only to discover that we had so much laundry, I didn't have enough laundry detergent.
I can't get out to the stores! 

No problem for this isolationist. She's going to make her own detergent. 

Wait!  Aren't we suppose to have fun with this self-isolation? Isn't this blog supposed to be uplifting? Isn't this supposed to be amusing?

 via GIPHY


Doing laundry isn't uplifting, nor is it amusing, but hey, it does add steps to my Fitbit.

So, to that end, we're gonna have fun. We're gonna make our own laundry detergent. Okay, yes, I realize that you'll need to purchase some items, but you can either ask a friend to deliver them, and e-transfer the money, or you can order online.

You'll need a bar of cheap laundry soap like this:

(the US link.)
https://amzn.to/38VL6Cv

or this:
(the UK link)
https://amzn.to/38VL6Cv

Preferably it should be blue glycerine, like this,

https://amzn.to/2IP4c2r

 

Blue soap is preferable because the slight blue tint helps to keep whites looking whiter. But you may want to search around for a good price. Even though the bar will last you ages and ages, and you're only doing this to alleviate boredom, you will still want to save as much money as you can.
You'll need washing soda, which I have discovered is only available around here at a hardware store.  

Stuff like this:
https://amzn.to/3a9Movb

 

 

















 (the UK link) https://amzn.to/3b0J4SX

 Here's what we have to start with.

Grate out one-half cup of the blue soap. You don't need anything special. Your cheese grater is fine. Just wash it before and after, please! No soapy lasagna!
Then measure out one-half cup of washing soda. Mix them into a litre of warm water. This is what it will look like.

 
 Pour into an empty laundry detergent jug, and you're set. Just use the same about of this mixture as you would the store-bought variety. One small warning. It's messy to pour out with the dispensing lid and leaves a dried powdery spot on the floor, but it's super easy to wipe up and won't hurt anything. I measure it out over the laundry sink. But it works out to be about 5 cents per load, and that works for me!
There! We have helped take another dozen plastic bottles out of the environment, and we saved money. All that's left is to do the laundry. Are we having fun yet?
 
via GIPHY




Just as an aside, you may want to try soap nuts. A friend of mine has been using them for six months and loves them, even with three kids and a busy husband. But if I just focused on them, (which is fine) I wouldn't have the fun of telling you all about making your own detergent, would I?

(the UK link)
https://amzn.to/2QiEhV9

(the US link)
https://amzn.to/2Wkfgwq

 

Our local bulk food store stocks them, and I hear they are much cheaper. 

Well, that filled Day 1. Time to relax and get caught up with my Netflix streaming.