Homemade Laundry Liquid

Laundry Liquid

1 cup of Homemade Soap grated or 1 cup Lux Flakes

1/2 cup Borax

1/2 cup Washing Soda (fine not like rock salt)

Water

Saucepan

Wooden spoon 

10 litre bucket 

1. Add ingredients to 1 1/2 litres of water in a saucepan.

2. Put it on a gentle heat and stir until ingredients dissolved then remove from heat.

3. Pour melted ingredients into a bucket. Fill bucket with 8 litres of cold water. Stir and leave for 24 hours. 

4. Bucket will be full of gel with some floating bits. Use a electric mixing stick to dissolve floating bits if you like.

5. Pour into labeled containers to store or well washed milk containers. Leave some space in the container as you need to gently shake before you use. Store out of reach of children.  

10 litres of Cold Power laundry liquid from Woolworths is $70 ($6.99 per litre)
10 litres of homemade laundry liquid is $1.75!!

I love that my clothes are clean, don't smell chemically and don't make my skin itch!

To use: 

Add 1/4 of a cup to machine. If really dirty load add a little more. It works great in cold wash.

I use vinegar in the rinse cycle as a softener and to remove any odours. 

Homemade Plum Jam

Plum Jam

Large heavy based pot

4 small jam jars

1 large jar

Spatula spoon or wooden spoon

2 plates

1.2 kg of plums cut in half. Seeds still in.

1.2 kg of castor sugar

Juice of 1 small lemon

400 ml water 

1. Cook the plums with water until tender about 15 to 20 minutes. Once the sugar is added the skin will not soften any further. Put two plates in the fridge to cool down if you don't have a cooking thermometer.

2. Take pot off the heat, add sugar and stir until dissolved. This keeps the fruit from breaking up any more. 

3. Add juice of 1 small lemon. Bring to boil quickly and boil vigorously about 10-15 minutes (without stirring) OR until setting point is reached 105 degrees celsius. Remove from heat and take off any scum (foamy bubbles from boiling at a high temperature.)

If you don't have a thermometer:

Put a teaspoon of hot jam onto one of the cold  plates. After a minute push it with your finger. When small ripples appear it is at setting point. If it doesn't set boil jam for five more minutes and repeat. 

4. Set aside to cool for 20 mins and sterilise your jars. I wash jars in hot soapy water and use our electric baby bottle steriliser. Most people wash jars with hot soapy water and place in a 120 degree Celsius (fan forced) pre heated oven for 20 minutes.

5. Take jars out of oven and immediately spoon jam into jars 1/8th of an inch from the top. Add lids and rings (1/4 turn undone) and turn upside down to ensure the lid pops in. When completely cool test the seal on the lid is good checking the lid has popped in and tighten the ring completely. 

Label jars with name and month and year made. Store plum jam in a cool, dry place. Use within one year.