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Make Your Own Dr. Bronner's Laundry Soap
Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile Soap claims 18 cleaning uses in one bottle. One of those is laundry soap. Want to know how to make your own using only a cup of Dr. Bronner's per 64 loads? Check it out:
This makes a full gallon of laundry soap, which will last 64 loads. Here's what you need:
- 1 cup Dr. Bronner's pure castile liquid soap
- 1 cup baking soda
- 2 cups water
- 1/3 cup salt
Warm the water and mix with salt and baking soda until dissolved. Pour into a one-gallon container. Add the Dr. Bronner's and fill the remainder of the gallon jar with water. Use 1/4 cup of laundry soap per load.
This laundry soap doesn't create suds, but it doesn't need to in order to get your laundry clean.
32 Comments
Thank you for this post! I use Dr. Bronner's pure castile soap for showering, as I find that it's the only reasonably priced body cleanser that doesn't dry out the skin, particularly in the winter.
I do have one question regarding the ingredients listed above: what's the purpose behind adding salt to this laundry mixture?
I may have to try this, I've been looking for a new laundry detergent.
4 and 1/3 cups of supplies will make a gallon?
Salt acts as a mild abrasive and cleaning booster to help remove stains and prevent colors from bleeding. It also helps to deter suds from becoming a problem.
sounds like it would work then, in a high efficiency machine? just checking as it is brand new and I want to treat it nicely! :)
eeks: "Add the Dr. Bronner's and fill the remainder of the gallon jar with water." The first amount of water is just to mix.
I am also not sure about the salt in this mix. It might be to soften the water, but if you don't have problems with hard water, I don't see the need.
... but Dr. Bronner's fades clothes. I tried it.
There's lots of ways to make good, inexpensive laundry detergent. This recipe costs under $2 CAD/US per 100 loads.
Liquid Laundry Soap
1 bar of pure soap (grated or finely chopped)
1 cup of washing soda
1 cup of borax
2.5 gallons of water//11 liters
Dissolve soap by heating it in a pot of water on the stove.
Pour dissolved soap mixture into two gallon+ buckets of warm water and stir in remaining ingredients. It will turn to a gel-like consistency after about 24 hours. I store it in old detergent bottles with lids.
1 cap (1/4 to 1/2 cup per load). That should give you enough laundry soap for 100 loads.
I'm pretty sure it's my clothes that are the most expensive thing I'm putting into the wash.. why fade and poorly clean them to save a buck?
Seems penny wise and pound foolish.
I've used another homemade one with Dr. Bronner's, vinegar, washing soda and I can't remember the other ingredient but it left a weird feeling on all of my clothes. The Dr. Bronner's does, like lainamae said, fade clothes. :(
Method is a good alternative.
We make a powder that closely matches empressofdirt's recipe. It's the best soap we've ever used! I've also given some to others to try and they also say it's the best.
for the soap part, we either use dr. Bronner's bar soap or Fels Naptha.
oshe, can you post that recipe?
Here's the recipe I use, and it's wonderful!
1 cup washing soda (NOT baking soda)
1 cup borax
1/2 cup Oxyclean or equivalent
1 finely grated bar of Fels Naptha, Zote, Ivory, Dr. Bronner's bar
Mix it all together and use about 3 Tbsp for giant loads, less for smaller loads.
I use that same recipe, except that I dilute mine down to 5 gallons instead of 2.5 gallons. I suppose I could just leave it more concentrated and use less, though....
I use 1 bar of Dr. Bronner's or Kirk's Castile because I HATE the smell of Fels Naptha, which is the commonly recommended bar for laundry soap making. I'm down to making detergent once every 4-6 mos (depending on how muddy/dirty my preschooler gets!)
Borax is a great for so many things.
Here is another recipe, I've tried a few and really like this one-http://savingyourgreen.blogspot.com/2009/08/homemade-laundry-soap-for-87-cents.html
I am intrigued by the powder one qtsreign posted but I have very expensive Egyptian cotton sheets so I would never use Oxyclean it will ruin the fibers.
I wanted to point out if you use a Microplane grater with the thick black grip it grates the soap nice and fine.
I use Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds for cleaning. Their castile soap, which I use for shampoo/shower/handsoap, just didn't work for tougher jobs. I use the Sal Suds in the laundry (with a bit of borax and washing soda), for dishes, and diluted in a spray bottle as an all purpose cleaner. I use maybe a teaspoon/load in my front-load washer. It's less expensive than the castile soap, is still made from non-petroleum sources, and does a great job.
If you have a high-efficiency washer, check with the manufacturer. Soaps not designed specifically for HE washers can, quite literally, gum up the works. It's messy and can ruin your machine. :(
Oxyclean is good for towels but made holes in my sheets and shirts.
trek1394, salt only acts as a mild abrasive when it is undissolved, because it's the physical abrasion that does the job.
this is bad math
*1 bar of Dr Bronner or Fels Naptha soap -finely chopped and then put in a food processor (for soap only) OR a mix of the two to get a specific scent
*baking soda to facilitate processing of soap flakes
*1 cup of washing soda
*1 cup of borax
*mix it all together
That's the powder recipe and we use about 2 tbsp each load.
I only get a quart of soap, not a gallon. It only lasts for 16 loads, not 64. Just because you use a gallon-sized container doesn't meant you get a gallon of soap.
This is my first attempt at making laundry detergent. I forgot to shake before adding soap and it suds up a little and the rest is watery. Is it still as effective? What is the consistency usually like?
I'm going to try making this with washing soda instead of baking soda. And also see how it works without the salt. Is the salt really that beneficial?
I wondered about that, too. But on second glance in the directions, you use 2 cups warm water to combine the ingredients (probably helps dissolve the soap), and then fill the remainder of the gallon container with water.
Agreed. I used Oxyclean to get wine spots out of a favorite shirt and a couple of washes later it had holes in it!
I have been using this soap for several months and haven't had a problem with my clothes fading.
I am allergic to sulfites, so I don't think salt would work for me. I'm chicken. I will stick with the recipe with washing soda that I'm not afraid of, and also the castile soap does come in a bar, so I just grate that up and use the borax, washing soda, castile soap, they have a purpose in the formula for clean clothes. I only recently learned about essential oils, so that could make for some fun in great smelling laundry. You only use the smallest amount, so it shouldn't be fading someones clothes. Like 1-2 Tblp. per large load. Hmmm.
That math doesn't add up...
there are 16 cups to the gallon....I double checked on google search.
So if you make this according to the recipe, you'll have 1 quart...
4 quarts make 1 gallon
if you take the recipe x 4, THEN you will have 1 gallon.
Regardless of how you do this recipe, $50+ for a gallon of ready made soap is expensive!!
Not only is it expensive, but it breaks down to about $3.50 per cup of castile soap alone! That's not even figuring in the other ingredients....
Now IF you have that kind of money to spend, and IF this castile soap is all that great, then fine, knock yourself out.
As for me, 1 bottle of castile soap every 6 months would kill my budget in a Mississippi heartbeat.
Please do not get me wrong, I'm not saying this is a bad recipe, nor am I trying to put down Dr. Bronner's castile soap....all I am trying to do here is inform people of the costs associated with making this recipe.
you have nothing to fear...just remember to shake next time
Recipe instructions:
Warm the water and mix with salt and baking soda until dissolved. Pour into a one-gallon container. Add the Dr. Bronner's........ and fill the remainder of the gallon jar with water. Use 1/4 cup of laundry soap per load..


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Is there really any such thing as an incompressible liquid?
by Abu Rehan
Tags: bulk modulus, density, liquid, youngs modulus
|Share this thread:
Sep15-11, 07:54 AM
1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data
Given- Pressure increases with depth.
2. Relevant equations
We know that pressure under a depth h is given by pgh. Where p=density of liquid, g= acceleration due to gravity.
3. The attempt at a solution
Let us take an example.
There is an ocean of a liquid which is 100% incompressible. At a depth h there is a lobster experiencing a pressure of pgh. Suppose we go deep inside the ocean and seal the lobster and the liquid in a box. Clearly, the lobster is still experiencing the same amount of pressure. We bring the sealed box above with us. We take another box, pour some water in that, put a lobster in that and seal the box.
Now observe the two boxes. If the liquid is incompressible then the two boxes are identical(apart from the compression in lobster's body). But we earlier saw that the first lobster is experiencing much more pressure than the second one. So we arrive at a contradiction. Therefore there must be something different in case of the first box i.e., it must have a little compressed liquid. The decrease in volume may be very very little but compression must be there. What is relevant is the pressure. Some liquid may apply huge amount of force by getting compressed very little while others may apply that amount of force by getting compressed a lot.
Therefore however incompressible a liquid may be, it cannot be 100% incompressible.
Sep15-11, 08:49 AM
This doesn't appear to be a homework problem, it's more of a philosophy of science issue like light flexible strings and massless pulleys. Possibly it would be better served up in one of the general physics forums for discussion.
Also, you forgot about the compressibility/flexibility of the box material
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Specifications for the
Mitsubishi F-1 (Supersonic Rei-Sen)
Strike / Anti-Ship Fighter Aircraft
Focus Model: Mitsubishi F-1 (Supersonic Rei-Sen)
Country of Origin: Japan
Manufacturer: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries / Fuji Heavy Industries - Japan
Initial Year of Service: 1978
Production: 77
Crew: 1
Length: 58.56ft (17.85m)
Width: 25.85ft (7.88m)
Height: 14.70ft (4.48m)
Weight (Empty): 14,017lbs (6,358kg)
Weight (MTOW): 30,203lbs (13,700kg)
Powerplant: 2 x Ishikawajima-Harima TF40-IHI-801A afterburning turbofans generating 7,305lbs of thrust each.
Maximum Speed: 1,056mph (1,700kmh; 918kts)
Maximum Range: 217miles (350km)
Service Ceiling: 50,000ft (15,240m; 9.5miles)
Rate-of-Climb: 35,000 feet per minute (10,668m/min)
Hardpoints: 7 (including wingtip mounts)
Armament Suite:
1 x 20mm JM61 Vulcan 6-barreled internal cannon
2 x AIM-9L OR Mitsubishi AAM-1 air-to-air missiles (on wingtip mounts).
2 x ASM-1 anti-ship missiles, rocket pods or conventional drop bombs (500lbs/750lbs).
2 x Jettisonable fuel stores as required
F-1 - Base Series Designation; introduction in 1978 and 77 examples produced.


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Early voting is now underway in Iowa and dozens of people were anxious to be among the first to cast ballots Thursday morning. A line of 60 to 70 people formed outside the Scott County Administration building in Davenport, before the doors opened at 8 a.m.
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Skull Fracture
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» Solving the Diversity Puzzle
Solving the Diversity Puzzle
Todd Henneman
August 12, 2011
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Lecturing employees about diversity is one thing, but some companies are taking training a step further. Strategies include engaging employees in teamwork exercises and having workers simulate disabilities.
In July, Jennifer Vena decided to talk with colleagues about Tourette's syndrome after watching video clips of American Idol contestant James Durbin and public speaker Marc Elliot, both of whom have the neurological disorder known for causing motor and vocal tics.
It's the latest in a string of topics advanced by Vena since she decided a year ago to add one item about diversity to her team's monthly meeting agenda. "It is really each individual making a commitment to demonstrate inclusiveness in his or her daily actions that will make a difference," says Vena, a senior consultant at Bright Horizons Family Solutions, a private company that manages employer-provided child care centers.
Vena's self-imposed monthly commitment is part of an initiative known as One Thing introduced last year by Bright Horizons. The brainchild of the company's diversity council, One Thing challenges employees to take one action that fosters workplace diversity and inclusion. More than 600 employees have submitted One Thing commitments. Other employees have vowed to take new co-workers to lunch so they feel welcomed or to read books to learn about other dimensions of diversity.
"It's an evolution of the way we're doing the work," says Dan Henry, Bright Horizons' chief human resources officer and co-chair of the diversity council. "There is only so much training you can do in this space. At some point, it has to come down to what people do."
Bright Horizons isn't the only company whose diversity practices are evolving. Increasingly, companies are supplementing lectures with activities ranging from simulating deafness to using case studies that hone skills for navigating complex situations. The goal: to create better managers, not simply more sensitive ones.
"Companies are offering courses on how to be an effective team member, conflict resolution, cultural agility," says Quinetta Roberson, a management professor at Villanova University's School of Business who has researched diversity trends. "They're giving people an openness to experience where people can deal in various contexts with various people, where people have the tools to navigate in any context."
Beyond guilt trips
The National Training Laboratories of Bethel, Maine, which is now called the NTL Institute, determined more than a decade ago that "practice by doing" is second only to "teaching others" as the most effective way of learning. But only in recent years has diversity training transitioned away from side shows and guilt trips to skill-building, such as resolving conflict and providing developmental feedback to subordinates with whom managers have little in common.
"People learn more by doing," says Ondra Berry, co-founder of training firm Guardian Quest. "We can recite experiences from our lives blow-by-blow because we remember more when we're actively involved, especially when it has made an impact on us." NV Energy Inc., which provides electricity to 2.4 million customers throughout Nevada, hired Guardian Quest for three days of training four times per year.
The sessions are about teamwork as much as they are about diversity. In one, a line of people must navigate under chairs and around other obstacles, communicating only through taps and touches. In another, the group must figure out how to pass everyone through a spider web of ropes.
Carolyne Sharp attended the training after changing jobs involuntarily as part of a reorganization at NV Energy. She was unhappy because she had been transferred from a power plant, where she liked her co-workers, to the corporate office, where she would be working in purchasing and contracts.
"After I took the training, I was fired up," Sharp says. "I found my voice. I wasn't afraid to say something anymore. The true me came out again."
Since, she has won five awards for her efforts to expand the number of minority suppliers, holds regular reunions for her training cohorts and organizes an annual companywide event to honor veterans.
The earliest forms of diversity education arose soon after President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order in 1961 that required federal contractors to "take affirmative action" to avert discrimination based on race or national origin. By 1963, government contractors such as Western Electric provided two days of lectures and discussions about prejudice to leaders of all their locations.
During the 1970s when the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission gained the power to bring lawsuits against private companies, training sessions proliferated to help employers avoid litigation. These compliance sessions evolved in the 1990s into training that used broader definitions of diversity, including factors such as sexual orientation, religion, communication styles and tenure.
Now, companies are increasingly looking for quantifiable returns on their investment. They're tracking employee engagement to see whether the training translates into higher scores and looking at 360-degree evaluations to see whether managers gained skills.
"The expectation is more than a good experience," says Michael Hyter, president of diversity consultant Global Novations. "It's real, measurable learning. It's a measurable outcome. There is a specific skill that ought to be obvious for the investment that we're making in this person's development experience."
Hyter says that he holds his firm to a different standard than he did a decade ago, emphasizing to clients how his firm's training builds competencies and enhances employee engagement.
In one instance, a client had become alarmed about turnover among women of color. Hyter's firm conducted a cultural audit, which suggested managers were weak at providing developmental feedback across the board, not only to women of color. The firm identified competencies, trained managers and embedded behavior into 360-degree evaluations every 90 days. Within 18 months, turnover decreased and more women and minorities had risen within the organization.
"If we talked 10 years ago, I would have said we gave 5,000 people diversity training and left, and they loved it," Hyter says. "But nothing much would have changed. There was no real measurable change in behavior or skills." Nowadays, he asks specifically what outcome clients seek and looks at what skills drive those results.
In 2010, 68 percent of the member organizations surveyed by the Society for Human Resource Management indicated that they have practices in place to address workplace diversity compared with 76 percent of organizations surveyed in 2005. But of companies with diversity practices, 71 percent say they provide training compared with 67 percent in 2005.
"The organizations that were really invested in diversity and inclusion work before the recession hit remain so," says Eric Peterson, SHRM's manager of diversity and inclusion. "Those who were getting started, it was an easy cut to make when they needed to cut back."
Making an investment
Sodexo Inc. is among the companies that have invested years of time and money into diversity strategy. The food and facilities-management services company offers multiple diversity workshops available to everyone from cashiers to members of the C-suite, invites outside speakers to lead sessions at its annual diversity conference and offers webinars available anytime from any location.
"We use every opportunity we can to spark people's interest and seed a desire to learn more," says Betsy Silva Hernandez, Sodexo's senior director of diversity, learning and consulting.
Managers attend a full-day diversity workshop, facilitated by a cohort of external trainers, within six month of joining the company. There, managers learn about their role in building an inclusive workplace, reflect on their own views of diversity and explore situations that they may encounter. One scenario presents a white male voicing resentment based on his perception of reverse discrimination.
"It gives them an opportunity to talk about the issues in a safe place—what they feel are going to be their challenges—and an opportunity to talk about what they can better do to lead in this space," Hernandez says.
Managers can opt to attend 15 Diversity Learning Labs, follow-up sessions that range from 90 minutes to three hours offered throughout the year. Topics include gender, sexual orientation, cross-cultural communication and disabilities. A recent lab simulated working with disabilities. For one hour, participants lived with a disability. One employee wore special earplugs that blocked all sound, another temporarily lost vision, while someone else spent time in a wheelchair.
"We want it to be interactive," Hernandez says. "We look at 90 percent interaction and 10 percent sharing information and raising awareness."
John Friedman, director of public relations for Sodexo, gave up his sense of hearing during the lab. He went with a colleague to a place that was "100 percent familiar, where we'd been to 100 times in our own building," he says. "It was a markedly different experience and profoundly humbling."
Eight years ago, Sodexo also began conducting an annual diversity and business summit, a place where it tests new learning labs on such topics as generational differences. Each year, the full-day event is held in a different region, with area managers invited to attend with North American president and CEO George Chavel and his executive team.
As diversity has become ingrained into business strategies, Chavel and other chief executives are immersing themselves in their companies' initiatives. Their involvement underscores the organizational commitment to diversity.
Consider, for example, Mark Wagar, president and CEO of Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the New York City-based subsidiary of WellPoint Inc. In 2008, the company introduced the Empire Diversity Council to serve as an advisory body to its senior-management team. Wagar then launched a "community ambassador program" in which members of employee resource groups help identify ways of better serving their own demographic.
When Asian employees formed a resource group last year, they asked Wagar to serve as executive sponsor because, he says, "of my activism." A self-described "giant Dutchman," Wagar agreed and is working with members on a business plan detailing employee education and customer research goals.
"If it's a business reality that there's lots of old white men running companies, if you don't have old white men who are willing to speak out about this and about how it [diversity] makes richer lives and better business," Wagar says, "it's not going to go as fast as it otherwise would."
Some companies also are linking diversity education to performance evaluations. Bright Horizons evaluates employees against the company's values, known as the Heart Principles. Employees learn about this connection in diversity training they attend during their first 90 days. Among those principles: "We strengthen our organization by embracing diversity and never allowing acts of nonacceptance."
Sodexo goes further. It ties managers' bonuses to training, recruitment and other diversity goals. This connection provides an incentive for managers to attend additional training sessions and to encourage subordinates to do so, as well. The strategy appears to be working: In fiscal 2009, 2,900 employees participated in 85 learning labs, and the next year 6,900 attended 243 labs. Through June, Sodexo already had exceeded its 2010 attendance.
Discussions about business cases for diversity—reducing turnover-related expenses, tapping new market niches, better understanding customers—still dominate conferences.
But Caesars Entertainment Corp. is taking a novel approach. Fred Keeton, chief diversity officer of the casino operator based in Las Vegas, has developed a concept that he calls "Diverse by Design." Many organizations assume that having a diverse workforce naturally creates better teams, but Keeton handpicks team members to ensure that the teams have what he considers to be the relevant mix.
He applies the hospitality industry's concept of yield management to diversity, creating teams with what he considers the best mix of cognitive styles and experiences to solve thorny business problems or drive revenue.
"Every dimension is not always important to what you want to do," says Keeton who is also vice president of finance for external affairs. "You've got to manage your diversity like you manage so many other things."
He mines employee data, picking the most relevant attributes using a matrix that considers everything from thinking styles to job function, geography, cultural style and the traits traditionally thought of as diversity: race, gender or ethnicity.
Insight into cognitive styles, for example, comes from the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument survey, collected and shared with employees in diversity training conducted during their first 90 days.
Caesars uses Diverse by Design teams for only its toughest tasks. "If you have a problem that's a really easy problem, having a lot of diversity doesn't necessarily help you answer that problem," Keeton says. "If you've got a really hairy, nasty, dirty problem that's hard to solve, diversity becomes most potent. We call it creating the capacity to call the baby ugly because the people who created the baby aren't going to call it ugly."
The company piloted the first two teams in 2009 and has since formed eight other teams. One looked at ways of improving buffets. The team didn't review the food itself, but rather proposed ways to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of buffet operations. A second team looked at the revenue-management systems of hotels, while another focused on whether to buy new or retain existing slot machines and what mix of games to offer.
Keeton says the results are proprietary information but the strategy is working.
Yet even after 50 years, diversity programs continue to spark debate. Sociologist Frederick Lynch, an associate professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in California, argues that diversity programs promote the notion of hiring people because of their skin color, gender or other demographic traits. He considers this tokenism.
"As I see it, we have gone from trying to make up for past discrimination to affirmative discriminations," says Lynch, author of The Diversity Machine: The Drive to Change the "White Male Workplace." Changing demographics may lead to a "natural affirmative action," he says.
But other experts believe diversity won't just happen without a lot of hard work. Patti Digh, a former vice president of international and diversity programs for SHRM and co-founder of the training firm the Circle Project, voices her frustration that companies insist on developing business cases before advancing diversity, saying this demand amounts to a stalling tactic. Diversity programs no longer need to be justified, Digh says.
They're core business tools that should be integrated across product development, marketing and communication, not thought of as a separate silo.
"In the year 2011, continuing to say, 'We have to build a business case for diversity' is like saying, 'We should really look into this new Internet fad,' " Digh says.
Workforce Management
August 2011, pgs. 12-14, 16, 18
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Todd Henneman is a writer based in Los Angeles. Comment below or email firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow Workforce on Twitter at @workforcenews.
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Was £31.70
Now £25.36
20% Off
Save a total of £6.34
Item not in stock
Vercelli Large Stainless Steel Outdoor Lamp Post
Item No.60007_24112515
Vercelli Large Stainless Steel Outdoor Lamp Post from Litecraft. This large energy saving Vercelli outdoor lamp post from Litecraft is constructed from stainless steel and glass and is ideal for illuminating any outdoor area.
- Width 10cm, Height 100cm, Depth 10cm
- Light Bulb: 1 x 11w Edison Screw
- This product is not available for BFPO deliveries
Debenhams is happy to exchange or refund your purchase within 28 days providing the goods are in a fully resaleable condition (including tags) and not within the exclusion policy*. This policy does not affect your statutory rights. You can return unwanted items either by visiting your local store (the fastest way to get a refund), by arranging a courier collection or returning by post. Exclusions apply to selected products. For instructions on how to return products and information on Debenhams refund policy visit the returns and refunds section of the website.


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For a limited time Dell Home has the Vizio E470VL 47-inch LCD HDTV for an unreal price. This TV has a 1920×1080 resolution, SRS volume and surround sound, 120hz refresh rate, 3x HDMI ports, 100000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 500 cd/m2 brightness and 5ms response time.
The price is $879.99 – $130 instant savings + free ship = $749.99!