Whatever Wednesday: Laundry Round-up, including coconut-free detergent!

This is a dishrag, with a Dalek knitted into it.  You won't use it to do laundry, but you might need to wash it eventually.  Here's how.
This is a dishrag, with a Dalek knitted into it. You won’t use it to do laundry, but you might need to wash it eventually. Here’s how.

WASH CYCLE

And another thing, you can’t buy laundry soap without coconut in it either. (To get a list of coconut derivatives, go here, thanks to Becky at the Allergic to Coconut? blog.)  Since I decided I wanted to try cutting out any coconut derivatives that touch my skin, laundry soap was a target too.

I found this great site for 10 Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipes. The bar soaps they have listed contain coconut, but I tried substituting the Kiss My Face Pure Olive Oil Bar Soap for the soap they called for and it worked fine.  The recipe I used was Powdered #4 on the list.

Denise’s Version of DIY Powdered Laundry Soap

  • 1 Kiss My Face Pure Olive Oil Soap – 8 oz bar, grated (I grated it in my food processor, dumped it out, put the blade in, put it back in the food processor and pulverized it some more.  Doesn’t take as long to dissolve in the water this way.  Make sure you clean your food processor really well afterwards.)
  • 1 cup of borax
  • 1 cup of washing soda

Grate Kiss My Face Soap.  Place in container with borax and washing soda and mix thoroughly.  Use 2 Tablespoons per load.

A tablespoon of the laundry detergent
A tablespoon of the laundry detergent

DRY CYCLE

For the dryer, dryer sheets are loaded with chemicals and waxes, and aren’t great for people with sensitive skin.  Let’s assume coconut is a common base ingredient here like it is everywhere else.  What can you do?

You can make your own felted wool dryer balls to use in place of fabric softener, or you can buy them or use the plastic ones. Amazon has both here.

Also magical?  Balls of foil.  Don’t you love a cheap fix?  Or use vinegar.  This, or a cup or so in the rinse cycle, if you’re good at paying attention, both do wonders for static.

Now, neither of us has tried soap nuts, and Denise isn’t sure if they are potentially cross-reactive with coconut/palm (anyone know?), but they’re another potential alternative out there.  Anyone tried this?

Sorry.  We can’t help you with folding.  But Martha can:

    2 comments

    1. I plan on trying this soon. My son just reacted to coconut oil that I’ve used on his skin since infancy and I think it accounts for a lot of his mystery rashes. Thank you!

    2. Soap nuts are not remotely related to coconut/palm. Entirely different families. I’m allergic to coconut, probably babassu, and perhaps all palms in general, but I regularly use a soapnut/shikakai hair rinse for cleaning my hair. I have not tried it for laundry yet. So far double-rinsing after a wash seems to be doing the trick but my susceptibility keeps increasing so … I don’t think I can count on that for the long haul.

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