Selfsufficientish.com

Annpan wrote:Oh, congratulations Shirlz (and J, of course)... yikes, hope he is OK...did you get the obligatory photo of his first day at school?

About 10 so far!!! Poor wee soul looked so scared as the bus pulled up but the other children on the bus were so happy to see him, so that helped make him feel more settled.

Sorry for crashing your thread Buzzy!

no problem at all! congratulations!

I am using co-op eco friendly powder at the moment, with extra stain removal when necessary. seems ok, and not overly expensive.

I couldn't get on with soapnuts, they seemed to get everywhere and I wasn't sure about the cleaning power.

I actually also found that M&S's 'friendly' powder and delicates liquids were good too, I still use the liquid for my delicates.

I make my own washing powder.
2 parts soap flakes
1 part washing soda
1 part borax

I mix them all up in a big Tupperware type thing and use 1 Ecover scoop (which I seem to have had for ages).

If anything's heavily stained I chuck in a scoop of ecover bleach, or pre-soak.

No smell but after they've been dried outside up here they smell absolutely fantastic - best smell in the world, and I'm an Aromatherapist!!! Of course you can bung in any essential oils if you want - I'd put them in the fabric conditioner bit.

By the way I use white vinegar instead of fabric conditioner.

I had to make a trip back down to Manchester recently and was nearly knocked out by all the heavily perfumed clothes and things that people seem to use - never noticed it before.

Maggie

Hi ,
Love simply washing really works for us, Ratty if you have a CO-OP handy wait till they go on offer for £1.49 then use the 50p coupon they give you inside each new pack off the next purchase and then just clear the shelf ,I agree they are very expensive in Sainsbury's but this way you only pay 99p per tub, they are also bringing out a refill so that should be a little less too. As for soap nuts I'm afraid they just didn't get the school uniforms clean.

I've been using the Simply washing tabs for ages now, I bought 4 tubs on the website and got one free, so under the sink was packed with them!! They don't smell too overpowering, get stuff nice and clean, especially whites which really come out crisp. No irritation either, and hubby has very sensitive skin, so always good to find something that won't send him nuts!

Soapnuts didn't cut the mustard with me, but then I work with kids and generally get filthy with paint, mud and general muck!

I am glad you posted about these washing tabs I was looking on the net and found them. I use ecover and have just tried soapnuts well they are ok for delicates and stuff you don't get filthy but they don't clean my bubbas nappies they still smell of poo when they are washed too ugh. Anyone use Bio D I fancy trying it??

I don't like bio d powder - it clogs in the drawer.

Green Aura - yes... I understand that, recently went to Manchester too and I ended up wheezy and feeling quite ill because of the smell of the 'essential' washing liquid.

Wow.
Can't believe all the negative comments about soapnuts!!

Of course I don't have babies so I'm not washing dirty nappies.

I'm lucky then because they do just fine for me and my family. And you really can't beat the smell of clothes that have dried outside on the line. Having said that though - I live in a country where you can line dry clothes 340 days of the year.


ellie12022 - you should place the soapnuts in something - not just chuck them in the machine. I used and old sock with a knot tied in the top, (ignore me if i got the wrong impression).

Oooh and both manufacturer's I have used recommend using 8 soapnuts for a heavy load. All of you who weren't impressed with them did you try adding more soapnuts to the wash?

hedgewitch... If I lived in a lovely sunny country like you (I'm not jealous....MUCH!!) then soap nuts would do us too cause the sun gets rid of all stains and sanitises everything but if it has to air dry or tumble dry then I find I need something stronger......ooo another reason to move somewhere warmer