How did I get here?
In my previous post in this series I talked about how I almost threw in the towel with cloth diapering because I was tired of stripping the diapers and my daughter getting diaper rashes and burns. I had a hunch that if I could make my own liquid soap, surely I could use that to make a laundry detergent.Where does my story lead to next?
See Part 1 here. See Part 2 here. See Part 3 here. See Part 4 here.
So here is Part 5 in my series.
Right away I learned the difference between soap (made from lye and oil) and detergent (a mixture of surfactants {lower surface tension between dirt and water} and cleansers in water). Surfactants sounded harmless. But behind the definition was the fact that surfactants are derived from a variety of petrochemicals, AKA petroleum by-products (For Better Living). I am not about that.
I found a bunch of recipes online but they were all dry products mixed together. I really wanted a liquid version because I already had the liquid castile soap. I first tried castile soap alone. I have very hard water and it didn't cut it. So I researched other sodium minerals that are safe and biodegradable. I ended up with a formula that worked awesome. I didn't want to hold my breath until a good month went by. In the mean time I used it on all our laundry. It worked great on our clothes, so hoped it would work on the diapers?
After a month, I started to get excited! Months went by and I had my aunts, Grandma and parents try it. They loved it. They couldn't believe how little you had to use! Then friends and extended family wanted to try it and so I would sell them my laundry soap.
After about 6 months my husband started telling me I should sell it. I would roll my eyes at him and say, "Yeah right, who is going to want to buy laundry soap from ME?" 
My daughter Molly helping me fill bottles of laundry soap.
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