Modern liquid detergents based on synthetic surfactants have only existed for a very short time. So, what products did our grandmothers use to have impeccable laundry? If old-fashioned formulas based on real Marseille soap, Aleppo soap or black soap immediately come to mind, their favorite laundry detergent was quite simply… free! Laundry with wood ashes is in fact the most economical ancestral recipe since the raw materials are recovered in the chimney. Ecological and economical, it is also very easy to make. Here are our step-by-step explanations for making your very effective zero waste laundry detergent.
Let’s also remember the equally economical recipe for very autumnal laundry detergent with chestnuts or the special white linen recipe, just as effective.
What are the benefits of ash detergent?
- In addition to its low cost, it is not harmful to the environment.
- Furthermore, this detergent naturally contains potash. This 100% natural surfactant gives it effective cleaning power. Plus, it’s a great way to recycle your ashes.
- Furthermore, she is excellent on all types of fabrics and it helps to revive the colors.
- It is also extremely effective against organic stains: oil, food and above all blood !
- And rest assured: it poses no risk to the machine or the septic tank and does not leave a strange odor!
Its limits?
Depending on the quality and composition of the potash, the lye may be a little “corrosive“. It will therefore be better to prepare it with gloves and avoid its use on the very fragile fabrics. In addition, she has more difficulty remove stubborn mineral stains (mud, etc.). Therefore, you should not hesitate to remove stains beforehand. Finally, this old detergent can sometimes tarnish very light or white fabrics in the long term. So, it’s better to add a cup of sodium percarbonate (for white) or baking soda (for colors) in the drum of the washing machine.
What you need to make it:
- 1 liter of water (you can use rainwater for more savings)
- 150 g of wood ash
- A glass bottle or an old bottle of industrial detergent that you might have kept
- Gloves to protect your hands
- Optional: natural fragrance to perfume the laundry to add last or a few sprigs of aromatic plants (lavender, rosemary, etc.) to macerate with the ashes.
Doing laundry with ashes using the classic technique
1) First of all, sit in a well-ventilated place (garden or balcony).
2) Then sift the ashes using a strainer. This step is important because you don’t want to keep any staples or nails.
3) Next, mix your ingredients in a bucket and let macerate for a day or two. During this maceration time, stir your detergent four times.
4) Filter everything with a strainer covered with two cloths. If the liquid is not soapy or golden, filter a second time with a peach skin effect microfiber cloth.
5) Transfer the detergent into a bottle and keep the remains of ashes to clean the chimney glass, to put in the compost or asfertilizer at the base of plants.
6) Shake the detergent with ashes before each use then pour 100 or 150 ml into the detergent drawer of the washing machine. And above all, think of white vinegar as a softener.
Make your laundry with ashes without filtration or sieving
You can use another method to get the same detergent. It eliminates the filtration and sieving step, which makes it less tedious. On the other hand, it requires more patience, because it is based on the decantation of the ashes! In fact, here we must pour the unsifted ash and the water into a basin to make a slurry then stir. After a few hours, add double the amount of water relative to the height the porridge reaches. Remove the charcoal that is floating and let it settle for a few days so that the laundry concentrates. For example, three days it’s perfect. All you have to do is collect as much liquid as possible with a ladle. The gray mixture can be recycled as explained earlier!