Slaving over a hot soap!

[my_black_thumb]

Today in my internet exploring I discovered a recipe for making your own laundry detergent.  So I went to Menards and then Wal-mart and bought a five-gallon bucket, 20 Mule-Team Borax, Ivory soap, and a big thing of Arm and Hammer washing soda.  The website says that the recipe will make enough detergent (three gallons)  for 110 loads at a cost of

Comments

[tingakitty]

I enjoyed your entry here :) I have a bunch of goat's milk soap bars that I have been wanting to turn into laundry detergent, so this thread is super helpful! What do you shave your bars down with?

Oooh, do you know about the calming effects of lavender? I personally am not a big fan of the scent, but use it for my kitties.

[my_black_thumb]

Thank you! I added you back of course :) I just used a kitchen knife to shave the soap down, like whittling I guess. It got difficult to do the last little bit though, as I am not good with knives!

Yeah, I was pretty excited about finding the lavender seeds. I like to use lavender spray on my pillow to help me sleep, and I thought I could dry the lavender and make sachets. How do you use lavender for your cats? I have a hyper puppy, maybe I could calm him somehow? lol

[tingakitty]

I wonder how a good, sturdy Mouli cheese grater would work on the soap?
http://www.moulinex.co.uk/pages/images/Igrat_img_main.jpg
The cheese I put through mine is a very hard pecorino romano.

I have a lavender hydrosol, and some loose dried lavender. I have been accustoming my nose to accept it b/c I do think it is a beneficial plant to use.

For the cats, I just spray their areas (sometimes rub into their fur) with the lavender hydrosol (basically a lavender water) Scroll down, you'll see what I have: http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/fwater/fwater.php#fw_wat_lav

Are you familiar with Rescue Remedy at all? It is a natural calming agent, but perhaps pup has some growing up to do, lol! What breed is he?

[my_black_thumb]

Ooh, I bet that would work fine. The soap I used, at least, wasn't really that hard, you know? I'm sure the cheese is a lot harder. And grated pieces might melt better too.

I could never stand lavender when I was younger but I guess tastes change. I'll check out that site and also rescue remedy. I'm sure that my puppy is just being puppy-ish. He's a great dog over-all! Very smart and loving. I like to call him a Labradinger; a cross between a chocolate lab and a springer spaniel. I don't really know for sure, since we adopted him from a no-kill shelter, but I found pictures online that look just like him.