Natural Cleaners Revisited

I had excellent comments and discussion on my two recent natural cleaning blog posts, and I've been meaning to do a follow-up post to answer questions and pass on more information. The first was about the soap nuts (AKA soap berries) I mentioned in Outdoor Laundry Day.

These are berries from the soapberry tree, of which there are several species. The Western Soapberry (Sapindus drummondii) grows in southern and central US, so I'm thinking I need to plant one. 

Soap berries are very rich in saponins, the stuff that causes soap to foam. They've become popular for cleaning as an alternative to detergent. I got them for $5 a box at our local Ollie's, which was a good stock-up price. Here's their link at Amazon, although I'm not necessarily endorsing this particular brand. I do like that the only packaging with this brand is a cardboard box. Just try to get them seeded. It's the flesh of the fruit that contains the saponins, so if you buy by weight, the seeds mean you get less washing power for your money. 

Soak them 5 - 10 minutes to make soapy water.

Mine came with two little muslin bags to hold them. You could just toss them into the washer with your  laundry, but then you'd have to be picking out the bits of berries from your clothes. 4 to 6 berries is good for a washload of laundry. Soapberries are biodegradable and gradually dissolve away. As they do, I just add a few more to the bag. Besides laundry, they can be used for washing dishes, countertops, windows, the car, your hair, the dog, etc. For me, they are an excellent alternative to liquid and laundry soaps. I'm happy with the way they clean.

The other post was Spring Cleaning: In Praise of Baking Soda. I've always tried to be environmentally conscientious, but wanting to use our greywater for fruit trees and such, took it to another level. Initially, that meant looking for ecofriendly products to buy because I assumed that commercial products work better. Was I ever wrong about that, as those of you who read that post will likely remember. I got much better results with simple, common household products. Anyway, I wanted to pass on this book to you because I really liked it. 

Clean with Cleaners You Can Eat by Raven Ranson. It doesn't sound much safer than that, does it? I love the approach of this book; cleaners that are not only safer, but simpler. We humans tend to love complicated things, but Raven's methods start with the simplest methods and pretty much keep them that way. That makes so much more sense to me than complicated recipes and expensive ingredients.

After the introduction, the meat of the book begins with a chapter on ingredients. It's not just a list of what natural cleaners to use, but why they work, the best ways to use them, and when not to use them. Includes discussions on detergents, soaps, bleach, and unwanted microbes.

The chapter on tools tells you how to make your own. The next chapter, "Surfaces," is the recipe chapter. All the ingredients are simple, common kitchen items; truly ingredients you can eat!

The next several chapters address specific areas that we commonly clean. These contain a lot of great tips, not only on how to, but on the best cleaners and tools for each application.

"Oddbits" contains some helpful extras, including how to remove adhesive residues, reducing unwanted odors in the house, and several very effective oven cleaners (I know, because I tried one of them.)

While the book isn't big on pages, it's very big on information. An excellent addition to any household library. It's available at Permies Digital Market. 

So, I hope that answers your questions! Cleaning products have gotten more expensive, but not necessarily more effective. Keeping it simple seems to work the best. 

Natural Cleaners Revisited © April 2021

 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Outdoor Laundry Day

Awhile back, I showed you the outdoor laundry center we set up in the newly revamped carport. But I've realized that I never showed you how we use it. I had some nice weather recently and took some pictures. 

We have a two-tub system. The stand accommodates a wringer too.

Dan set up a tank to collect rainwater from
the carport roof, just for doing laundry.

I've switched from using a liquid detergent to soap nuts. I found
boxes of them for $5 each at a local Ollie's. I really like them.

I'm leisurely about doing laundry outside. I give it long soaks
and use my breathing plunger from time to time in between.

Wringing from the dirty wash water into the rinse water.

The clothesline is conveniently right behind the carport.

My clothesline will hold two tub loads. If I wash the cleanest stuff first, the water in the tubs can be reused for the dirtier load. I like that. When I'm done, I drain the water via a garden hose to nearby plants or trees.

Dan added a hose bib to each tub.

Clean, fresh, and folded.

Outdoor Laundry Day © March 2021

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Off-Grid Laundry

You may recall that our winter project last year was repairing the carport. While we were working on it, we discussed what to do with the space. Once upon a time we parked our jeep there, but eventually it became more useful for things other than a car. Expanding it to store firewood was one of the upgrades, and that left us with space to spare.

Our expanded carport.

When Dan installed a rain catchment tank,

Getting rainwater catchment installed.

we decided to set up an area for laundry. On the back side of the carport, it would be convenient to the clothesline.

Clothesline behind the carport.

Once upon a time, the bricks were our old fireplace.

We've gradually been accumulating everything we need.

My washboard and plunger are circa Y2K! My detergent is
Ecos, the only greywater safe detergent I can find locally.

We hope to use water mostly come from rain catchment.

Last Sunday we got our first rain since August. Only half an inch, but it's a start toward quenching the thirsty ground and refilling our rain tanks.

Because I didn't want to dump the tub water all in one place, Dan installed a hose bib in each tub.

This way I can empty the tubs via hose to where the water is needed most.

No, I haven't used it yet! But we've finally got it set up and I've found good information on doing laundry the old fashioned way. One resource is The Laundry Manual; or, Washing Made Easy, published in 1863 by "A Professed Launderer." It's now public domain and available for free download from the U.S. Archive. It discusses how to clean various fabrics, soap making, removing stains, starching, ironing, and polishing. It also has a section on bread making!

The other resource is a series of videos from Townsends, who are 18th century living historians. This series is definitely worth a watch:

• Historical Laundry Part 2
• Evolution of the Washing Machine
• Historical Laundry Part 4

The other thing we'd like to use the carport for is an outdoor kitchen. Nothing's finalized on that yet, but we're working on it. 

Off-Grid Laundry © October 2019

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Checked Off the To-Do List: New Clothesline

One of the things on our summer to-do list is "new clothesline." I've had the old one since 2009.

My original umbrella style clothesline when it was new.

After ten years of use it certainly looks like it's seen better days.

Sagging and broken lines

Held together with duct tape and baling twine.

I never actually intended to have the umbrella clothesline for so long. In fact, seven years ago I bought a new pulley style line from Lehman's.

Originally, I wanted to run it from the back porch to the barn. I loved the idea of simply stepping out the back door to hang laundry. But because we were planning to build a new barn the new clothesline got set on hold. With the new barn now built and the old clothesline ready to topple, it was time to finally put up the new line.

But where? The problem with running it from the back porch to the barn was that it would partially obstruct the driveway. The line is 75-feet in length, so we would need a good clear stretch for it. We finally decided to hang it behind the carport.

The chosen spot for the new clothesline.

From the pecan tree on the right to the utility pole near the corner of the barn (next to the white downspout) would work. That meant we'd have to clear out the shrubs and vines you see, plus move the garden shed.

Getting ready to move the garden shed.

The shed holds potting equipment plus all of the original windows we've replaced in the house. Eventually, we plan to use the old windows to build a greenhouse. I cleaned it out and Dan set up a new base for it. Last time, he dug out and leveled the ground. This time, he used pallets.

Empty, it wasn't difficult to move. Now we could get the new line up.

The tree is a good anchor point, but Dan didn't want to nail the pulley to the tree. So he strapped it instead.

Dan added a hook on the bottom to hang my clothespin bag.

The height of the second pulley was based on the length of the line. It's 75-feet long, so the pulley ended up pretty high on the pole.

The last two parts are the pole and the spacer.

These keep the line from sagging and separating.

On my next laundry day I was able to give it a test drive.

The bench accommodates my laundry bag.

At this point I was wondering if all the laundry would fit.

I was happy that it held an entire load of laundry. I was equally happy to retire my old clothesline! Dan was happy to clear out some of the wild growth behind the carport, and Meowy was happy to keep me company.

I found the umbrella line to be slow because it had so many short spaces that I would have to dig around in my laundry bag to find pieces to fit. So hanging laundry went more quickly, as did taking it down. I especially like that it's shaded there most of the day, because that means I don't have to work in the hot sun. It was well worth waiting for.

Another project checked off the to-do list! Any one else making progress on theirs?

Checked Off the To-Do List: New Clothesline © June 2019
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Analyzing My Current Cleaners: How Greywater Friendly Are They?

Continued from part 1 "Of Soap, 
Detergent, & Greywater"

My recent greywater research is part of a homestead greywater feasibility study and focuses on two things: analyzing the greywater safeness of the products I currently use, and looking for locally available, affordable alternatives if needed. In this post I'll share what I've learned about the products I use. I try to be conscientious about what I use, so I was hoping they'd also be safe for greywater usage.

I focused on my three main concerns: pH, sodium, and boron (although read part one to see why I'm only nominally concerned about pH and boron.) There may be other problems with these products, for example health and environmental concerns, but in context this post only focuses on those three because of how they effect my greywater.

The biggest problem with analyzing cleaning products is ingredient labels, or rather lack of. Very few manufacturers give a detailed list of actual ingredients. Mostly they use advertising terms instead, things like "natural," "biodegradable" or "phosphate free." They rarely tell what's actually in the product. Thanks to the internet, I found much of this information online.

Following is a list of the products I use, their ingredients, anything else I learned about them, cost per use if applicable, and any concerns I have.

Laundry. I use either homemade laundry detergent or Charlie's Liquid Laundry Detergent. I don't use laundry softeners, stain removers (other than rubbing the stain with a bar of soap), or bleach.

Homemade laundry detergent: 

• washing soda (sodium carbonate)
• borax (boron)
• and either Fels-Naptha laundry bar or Zote bar soap
• Fels-Naptha 
• sodium tallowate (beef tallow), sodium cocoate (coconut oil), sodium palmatate kernalate (palm kernel oil), and/or sodium palmate (palm oil)
• water
• talc
• dipentene coconut acid, palm acid, and/or palm acid
• peg-6 methyl ether
• glycerine
• sodium chloride (salt)
• pentasodium pentetate and/or tetrasodium etdronate
• titanium oxide (whitener)
• tricloroban (antibacterial agent)
• fragrance
• acid orange 24 and yellow 73
• or Zote 
• Sodium tallowate
• Sodium cocoate
• Fragrance (citronella oil)
• Optical brighteners
• Dye (pink and blue bars only)

Cost per load: about $0.10.

Laundry water pH - I'm out at the moment so I don't know. Probably basic because based on what I read, liquid soaps and detergents tend to be neutral, solid soaps (bars and powders) are alkaline.

Concerns: Even without knowing exactly what all these chemicals are, I see "sodium" popping up everywhere, plus the boron. The whiteners, antibacterials, and coloring agents in the bar soaps are also a concern. If I do continue to make homemade laundry powder, I'll likely switch to homemade soap.

Charlie's Liquid Laundry Detergent

• Water
• Sodium carbonate (washing soda)
• C12-15, Pareth-2 (biodegradable vegetable and mineral sourced surfactants)

Cost per load: for the 1-gallon size, less than $0.13

Laundry water pH - 7 (neutral), although the straight product is highly alkaline.

Concerns: The sodium of course. Also, there is some argument around the internet about the C12-15, Pareth-2. These are used in some Seventh Generation products which might lend a sense of credibility, but, on the other hand, Seventh Generation products are not considered greywater safe. I would like to further investigate the criticism over the surfactants.

Dishwashing. I've been using old-fashioned non-concentrated, Simply Clean original scent Dawn. Dawn is made by Procter & Gamble, who boast that "Dawn helps save wildlife," because it is used to safely bath animals rescued from oil spills. (Click that link for more information.) Sounds good, but does being safe to bath animals mean Dawn is safe to feed plants?

Finding an ingredient list was not easy. The only thing the label tells me is that it contains biodegradable surfactants and no phosphates. I finally tracked down a P&G MSDS for Dawn Simply Clean Original and discovered it contains this:

• Sulfuric acid
• mono-C10-16-alkyl esters
• Amine oxides
• C10-16-alkyldimethyl Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl)
• alpha-sulfo-omega-hydroxy-
• C10-16-alkyl ethers
• sodium salts

The hazard warning on that safety sheet is that it can cause eye irritation.

pH - neutral

Cost per use - I haven't tried to figure that one out

Concerns: although the amount of sodium appears to be small, my biggest question is whether these chemicals are petroleum based (as are many synthetic chemicals).

Cleaning. I use vinegar, dish soap, elbow grease, hydrogen peroxide, and a DIY scrubbing powder that I've really liked. Unfortunately it contains equal parts of:

• table salt (sodium chloride)
• washing soda (sodium carbonate)
• borax (boron)

All huge no-nos! While small amounts of the washing soda and borax may not be too bad, pouring table salt on my garden doesn't seem like a good idea. The other scrubbing powder I keep on hand is Bon Ami Powder Cleanser. It contains:

• Limestone
• Feldspar
• Surfactant from coconut and corn oil
• Soda ash (washing soda or sodium carbonate)
• Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)

Concerns: Soda ash and baking soda are listed last on the label, so at least I know they contain less sodium than my homemade scrubbing powder.

Bath Soap. I've used Ivory bar soap for a long time, recently found Clearly Natural bar soap, and also use some homemade soaps.

Ivory 

• sodium tallowate (beef tallow) and/or sodium palmate (palm oil)
• water
• sodium palm kernelate (palm kernel oil), and/or sodium cocoate (coconut oil)
• fragrance (in the aloe scented bars)
• sodium chloride (salt)
• glycerin
• coconut acid
• palm kernel acid
• tallow acid
• palm acid
• citric acid
• sodium citrate
• tetrasodium (water softener)
• aloe barbadensis leaf extract

Clearly Natural Soap

• Glycerine
• sodium stearate and sodium oleate (saponified coconut, palm and/or palm kernel)
• decyl glucoside (vegetable-derived surfactants)
• propanediol and sorbital (humectants)
• sodium citrate
• Fragranced versions contain a blend of natural aromas and essential oils

Homemade soaps - These basically contain fat and lye, which undergo a chemical process called saponification to make what we know as soap. According to the Caveman Chemist (interesting article here) saponification produces fatty acids, the names of which are all sodium somethingorotherate. The bottom line is that homemade soaps contain sodium and are alkaline (although aging the bars has something to do with how alkaline).

Concerns: are the same as for everything else, but honestly, I don't think I'm doing terrible bad on this one.

Shampoo - I just buy the junky stuff for dry hair because it's cheap. Ditto for conditioner. Shocking, I know.

Miscellaneous - Then there are all the little things that go down the drain, which may or may not be of concern. I'm not listing all of them, but am discovering that once I started analyzing this way, I realized that anything that goes on our bodies, ends up getting washed off.

• Body care: Things like facial care, salves, and lotions. I have very dry skin so I like to keep lotion around. I make some of my own but also buy Burt's Bees products (of which some are considered greywater safe by the experts).
• Deodorant: Yeah, even that gets washed off with a residue going down the drain. I've been using a deodorant stone for years. These are made of mineral salts (back to the salt again), although the synthetic ones are not pure.
• Toothpaste: Another one I wouldn't have thought of. My current toothpaste is also homemade. I got the recipe from this website: 
• 1/4 cup eggshell powder (I use shells from hard boiled eggs, drying thoroughly)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil (which is liquid in summer and solid in winter)
• 1 tbsp baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
• a few drops of essential oil if desired (usually peppermint)

All in all, I'd have to say I don't think I'm doing too badly. One thing I'm learning is that there are no perfect cleaning products.

Interested in seeing what's in the products you use? You can either try to track them down with numerous searches like I did, or try these sites (which I discovered after all my research).

• CPID - Consumer Product Information Database
• USHHS Household Products Database

They don't contain some of the newer natural products that are out, but they're a good starting point for doing your own research.

In my next post I'll share what products I can buy locally that are more greywater friendly. Click here to read it.

Analyzing My Current Cleaners: How Greywater Friendly Are They?

 © July 2016 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Of Soap, Detergent, & Greywater

It's been a tough summer for gardening. We've been in the upper 90s since the beginning of May, with a stretch of 8 weeks and no rain. Even with heavy mulch and rainwater irrigation, my poor garden shifted from production mode to survival mode.

I took my garden soil's temperature the other day - 94°F (34°C)!
 What can grow in that! No wonder my harvest has been so poor.

By the time we'd emptied the last of our rainwater tanks, I couldn't help but think of all the water we're wasting as it goes down the drain to the septic tank.

Now, before anyone rushes to hit the comments to tell me I can't put greywater on my garden, please read the rest of the post. Dan and I have Art Ludwig's book and I highly recommend both his book and web page on greywater errors. Actually, I'm thinking more along the lines of modifying one of our original ideas for greywater use.

Sketch from "Homestead Master Plan, 2012 Revision."

That is, to use the water from the wetland filtration bed for some areas of the garden, and save the rainwater for root veggies and things we eat fresh.

I did my initial research on greywater while I was working on chapter nine of 5 Acres & A Dream The Book - "Water Self-Sufficiency." From that I still had unanswered questions; not so much the how and why, but the what. What products could I use in a greywater system that would be safe for plants?

Some things make sense to avoid and are fairly easy to do so by reading labels: chlorine bleach, anti-bacterials, synthetic colors and fragrances, whiteners, softeners, enzymes, and artificial preservatives. Other ingredients are pretty ubiquitous in cleaning products and more difficult to avoid, especially borax (boron) and sodium. My other concern is pH, because soaps and detergents make greywater alkaline.

Boron. In cleaning products, borax is the source of boron. Found on the laundry aisle at the grocery store, borax (sodium borate) is 11% boron. As a laundry cleaning booster, it cleans and whitens by converting some of the water molecules to hydrogen peroxide. Borax is also used as a boron supplement for boron deficient soil. Boron is an essential nutrient for plants, however, it can be toxic to them if allowed to accumulate. My soil is boron deficient, and it shows up as a clicking sound in my goats' knees. So in some ways, borax is not a major concern. This link to the Agronomic Library can give you details on boron if you're interested.

Sodium. Look at any ingredient list for soap, detergent. and cleaning products, and you'll find many a sodium something or other. Excessive soil sodium interferes with plants' ability to take up water so that they dry up. Plants can also experience toxic effects by accumulating too much sodium. Some of my soil tests have indicated high levels of sodium. What's the answer? According to Neil Kinsey, "An open soil with plenty of calcium and plenty of water will not permit sodium to accumulate." [Hands-On Agronomy, page 23. He has an entire chapter on soil sodium which is informative reading.] So even though there's somewhat of an answer for sodium, it's still something I would rather avoid.

pH. Almost all the products we tend to use as cleaners: washing soda, baking soda, soap, borax, etc. are alkaline. This can kill acid loving plants. My soil is actually quite acidic, so slightly alkaline water would offer some benefit and is probably the least of my concerns.

Ways to manage these problems in greywater systems include periodic flushing. Even better is to use pH neutral products that are not high in boron and sodium. This was the motivation behind this round of research.

I had two research goals. The first was how greywater friendly my current products actually are. I believe that we humans are intended to be stewards of the earth, which means we are responsible for what we do and how it impacts the earth's health. Consequently, I try to make conscientious choices in the things I use, but since I hadn't aimed for products that are specifically greywater safe, I wanted to know if I needed to make changes. This points to my second goal, which was to research what I could buy locally that would fit the bill. Putting everything I learned into one post made it too long, I thought, so I divided my results into two posts. Next I'll share what I've learned about the products I currently use.

Happily, it started raining again so my garden is back in production mode. Unfortunately so are the weeds, but that's another story.

Of Soap, Detergent, & Greywater © July 2016

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Eliminating Plastic: Part 2 - Laundry

I am sick and tired of plastic laundry baskets. It never seems to take long before they end up looking like this

The first handle broke within the first month I had it. The others followed.

All handles are broken, which makes it extremely difficult to carry to the clothesline. It's a piece of junk. Sure it could be recycled, but I'm also sick and tired of having to spend money on another limited-life plastic product every six months. I retired this one to simply holding dirty laundry in the laundry room.

Solutions? The biggest drawback to non-plastic ones is that they are going to cost more, although they'll surely last longer. While looking around on the internet I found a number of options, although a lot of them seem to be intended as laundry hampers:

• Wicker - prices seem to range from $80 to $250 for a good-size one. The only disadvantage to wicker is that it can mildew. Better for hampers and laundry storage. (Some nice ones here). 
• Wood (woven) - some really nice ones here, and they say they're okay for carrying wet laundry out to the line. Prices for a good laundry-size basket are $65 up. 
• Straw - the ones I found here are absolutely gorgeous but way out of my budget.
• Seagrass - don't know if these would mildew or not. $79 at PotteryBarn.
• Wire - is a possibility as long as it won't rust.  Here's a vintage-style with wheels at Target for $173. Amazon has the laundromat roll type for just under $159,

While I was pondering all that, I received a Christmas gift from my daughter-in-law that was just perfect. 

"Deluxe Utility Tote," AKA my new laundry "basket,"

It's a water-resistant canvas tote made by Thirty-One. I was thrilled that it's large enough to hold a load of laundry from my washing machine. It has reinforced webbing shoulder straps plus hand-carrying straps on the ends (also reinforced). A wire frame is sewn into the top, so it stays open and keeps it shape. And it has pockets! What a relief to get rid of that plastic laundry basket.

This got me thinking. My other problem was my clothespin holder. I used to have one of those fabric clothespin holders that can be hung on the clothesline. That one worked better when I had a long, classic clothesline rather than a space-saver umbrella style clothesline (because I kept having to relocate the pin bag). When the fabric wore thin and tore, I switched to a small repurposed, plastic tub. This worked for awhile.

Eventually it went the way of all plastic.

When DIL alerted me to a clearance sale, I took a look and I found a small tote I thought would work well for clothespins. I'm really happy with this one too.

Meowy is frequently my laundry snoopervisor.

"I'm bored with hanging laundry, yawn, wanna play?"

This was one of several options that
would make a good clothespin holder.

Like the laundry tote, it's made of water-resistant canvas, has reinforced webbing handles, and a wire ring to help it keep it's shape. The drawstring is handy to sling over my shoulder when going to or from the laundry room.

Along with that, I got a small matching tote for miscellaneous laundry items. 

Unfortunately these are discontinued items! I'm so glad I snapped
them up when I did, although they have dozens of other possibilities.

I was on a roll now. The next thing to replace was that broken laundry basket which was still in use to hold dirty laundry. For that, I got the "Stand Tall Bin."

It comes with reinforcing rods to make it stand
tall. For me, this holds one load of dirty laundry.

How much? Not as expensive as the options I listed at the beginning of the post, but they are still pricey. If ordered alone, the Deluxe Tote or Stand Tall Bin are each priced at $50. But! Thirty-One offers several ways to get discounts, and when I ordered it, I took advantage of one of those.

Every month the company runs different customer specials. For every $35 (up to $105), I could qualify for one of those specials. (I know I'm going to sound like a commercial here - sorry! I'm really happy with these and want to pass on what I learned). When I bought the tall bin plus a tote for grocery shopping, I got two of these storage cubes for 60% off each.

It comes with a choice of window or chalk panel, on which I could have
written "sock yarns." Organization & storage are 2 huge areas I need to
tackle if I'm going to continue eliminating plastic from my life. I'm eyeing
a variety of mix & match storage boxes for my sewing and knitting stuff. 

Averaging my total purchase with the number of items I bought made all of these items quite reasonable.

Another way to get discounts plus free items is to host your own blog, website, or facebook sale. For example, if you click here, you will land at a page entitled "Leigh's Online Thirty-One Party." If you click "shop now," you can browse the catalog, get the specials, and I would earn credits toward free or discounted items. If you host your own party, you would be getting the credits. (Like the customer specials, the hostess specials change regularly too.) Just click on "Host a Party" at the top of the page, or email me and I'll put you in touch with my daughter-in-law.

Another option: if you really like the products and are interested in a flexible home business that doesn't call for huge start-up capital, you could become a consultant. For more information click "Become a Consultant" at the top of this page or email me and I'll put you in touch with my daughter-in-law.

All I can say is, I'm very relieved to have replaced my laundry room plastic. Next week I'll show you some totes that I love when I go shopping.

Okay, the floor is yours. Do you have plastic problems in the laundry room? What solutions have you come up with?

Eliminating Plastic: Part 2 - Laundry © Feb. 2016
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/