Since joining this wonderful forum, I have improved my footprint on the earth tremendously, especially as I live in a small rough town full of uneducated folk.Having been caught in the rat race most of my life, I decided to go down the bunny hole and to come out the other side to a better planet. After last years projects, I worked hard and continue to establish a good soil, cook all local organic foods, and planted fruit and veg, organized ponds, breed red wigglers, made successful compost, opened up a stagnant chimney, (ready for a RMH,) made shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, my own make up, (all cruelty free) and so now winter is here it's now onto making my own washing powder and fabric conditioner.... Gee, I feel mighty fine too!

So, has anyone successfully made any nice smelling fabric cleaners?
Could you post your favourite recipes.

Many thanks

I've had some success with washing clothes in urine. I just wanted to try it after learning that the Romans did it. The urea worked to bleach togas.

Manufacture was quite simple.

I'm opening a laundry service. Please form an orderly line. No pushing !

Holy Mary Mother of God! I didn't believe you at first, had to look it up on the web!

Now you come to mention it, I remember when I worked in a nursing home, some of the poor residents where incontinent of urine and peed on the bare tiled floors, and low and behold the pee actually bleached the floor better than the detergent used by the cleaning ladies!

fiona. peeing myself sustainably.

My family contained several bed wetters. When shaming failed to produce results, my mom took to running bedding through one rinse cycle and then onto the clothes line. There may have been residual smell but I shared a room with my brother who continued pissing until his teens. It already smelled like a chicken barn. Visitors were horrified at the stench of urea emnating from our room.

Whenever my brother got too yappy at school, I threatened to reveal his secret. We had to sleep at school during during a snow storm when I was 7. I peed and worked hard to hide it. Mrs. MacDonald got me some pants and a shirt from the lost and found. I peed them the next night and she gave me more. The same thing happened to my brother. We both got to keep all of this clothing which was much more in style than the embarrassing junk we usually wore. You win some, you lose some.

Urine was also used in the UK in the past.
If you go to this permies thread, there are links to videos of several of the historical farming series' that the BBC did.
I believe that it was the first series ("Tales from Green Valley") that showed Ruth taking the chamberpots out every morning to stock pile it until laundry day.

BBC Historical Farming Series'

Each of these series' are interesting. They demonstrate how it was done in past times.
While we may snicker at some of the antiquated equipment and methods, they bring home the realities of methods that were much kinder to the Earth. We can all learn a few tricks there that can really help us lighten our foot prints.

EDITED to add: In the "Wartime Garden" Ruth makes up a batch of shampoo from Soapwort, a common roadside weed in the UK.

And, don't forget: Synthetic detergents were developed for synthetic fabrics. Natural fibers do better without them.