Laundry Love: Wash everything in the in the machine! (YES, even wool, silk, etc.!)

I just read a new book that I feel has revolutionized my life. Laundry Love by Patric Richardson. I used to build up bags of wool, silk, linen and other natural textiles because I didn’t have time to hand-wash them but No More!

In this book he details how to wash delicates in the washer (put them in a mesh bag - yes even natural wool - just roll it up tight), and encourages the use of eco friendly laundry practices - like wash everything on the express cycle, dry on the line, don’t use fabric softener/bleach, how to use a tiny brush and vinegar/simple soap to remove stains, and how to use old fashioned ‘blueing’ to get whites whiter.

My favorite tip? His preferred laundry ingredient is ‘soap flakes.’ That is, as a laundry and textile expert, he believes the best soap to get clothes clean is just a plain old lye soap like grandma used to use, grated into flakes. We’ve been led to believe that we have to use special HE detergents and all kinds of toxic products but they are completely unnecessary!

I also hand wash almost nothing, mesh bags are AWESOME. Anything fragile or persnickety (bras, bathing suits, baseball hats, things with velcro or straps or whatever) goes into a mesh bag, I have several of different sizes.
the only caveat I'd add is that, if you have your stuff in a mesh bag, it's not going to get the agitation it would if it were "free", so I find it's better to make up for that with a longer soak cycle. I live in a place where there are no hot water hookups for washing machines (they're not built to handle it anyway, everyone washes in cold) and recently we've been experimenting with longer soaks, it works wonders.

I only wash with cold water.

When we had our homestead there was something wrong with the hot water connection so I told dear hubby not to worry about trying to get it fixed.

Since that worked out well I have just continued this tradition.

I also love mess bags for bras and socks.

I am not big on laundry soap so sometimes I just use water or add a cup of vinegar,

I also love overnight soaks.

I am curious do grocery stores sell `soap flakes`, if so what brand name is this product sold or do you make them yourselves?

Anne,

Fels Naptha can be grated into "soap flakes."

j

I've never seen soap flakes, but I have grated my lye soap (on a cheese grater! looks like grated mozzarella, which can be problematic).
In fact when we first moved here I used to take that grated soap and dissolve it in hot water to make a liquid soap for the machine. Otherwise the grated soap did not dissolve in the washing machine.
When hand washing (which I've done when my machine has broken), the bar lye soap is great, particularly on grease and on bizarre things (like jackfruit latex, for example, which is almost impossible to get off anything).

Thanks, Jim and Tereza.

I have a bar of Fels Naptha in my food storage as prepper stuff.

I cannot remember how washing was done before liquid soap though I only use stuff other than liquid soap in overnight soaks. And yes, it has to be watered down to make it blend before adding it to the washing machine.