Dr. Bronner's soap - organic, cruety-free, ideal for washing powder!

The main reason I first bought Dr Bronner's pure Castile soap was to make washing powder. I have really sensitive skin (what?? you've only mentioned this in almost every post, what a revelation?! I know, I know!) so decided it couldn't hurt to use something a little less harsh on my skin. Googling ingredients lead me to Castile soap, and Googling cruelty free ones lead me to Dr. Bronner! I've read literally tens and tens of ways to do this, so I'm really sorry if any of this seems plagarised, but I also read what was on the Dr Bronner website and mainly went off that. Here is how I make my own washing powder :)

 Firstly, you will need some blurry soap, as above. I purchased the mild one for babies, but there's lots to choose from so if you wanted scented washing powder you could pick a nice scent. There's tea tree so if you wanted antibacterial soap that would be ideal. This one just smells sort of...clean? If that makes sense.

 Get a jar to store it. I got three mason jars pretty cheaply in TKMaxx, but they're available in loads of places! Mine hold two grated bars plus the other stuff.  Yes, that's the bad part...you have to grate the soap! It does take a while and you will probably grate your fingers if you're anything like me, but it's worth it. The soap will definitely clean straight off your grater and any other tools you use so worry not. 

After grating two bars, I add bicarbonate of soda (also called baking soda - DO NOT use baking powder!) until nearly the top of the jar, and then some washing soda for luck. Then tip the jar around for a while until it's all mixed, et voila! Use one teaspoon (you really don't need much) and wash at 40 degrees or above so the soap melts in properly. You won't need fabric softener or whitening products or anything else - even with towels I didn't use fabric softener, and I found my clothes looked perfect afterwards. Some people say they've had a residue left on their clothes after using this, but I've used this in the drawer and in the drum and I've never had residue, so maybe they washed at 30 degrees or something.

Dr Bronner also sells a range of liquid soaps, cleaning soaps, and much more, so it's worth checking out their website if you're a fan of products with more than one use (their liquid soap can clean you all, from your hair to your teeth, and your kitchen!) or if you just want to try making this washing powder. Using one teaspoon per wash, I think two bars plus the bicarbonate of soda if you want to add some will last around 50 washes. You can play around with the mixture as well, you might find you want to add more bicarb or something. A lot of guidelines called for borax in the making of this but since I couldn't find any I didn't add any, and I really don't see it making any difference. The smell is now something I weirdly look forward to when I'm doing my cleaning. Have you tried any Dr Bronner stuff? What did you use it for? I've only purchased these soap bars so far but I want to use more of their things.