Soap berries can not only be used as whole shells in the washing machine to wash clothes with. In fact, you can boil soap berries into liquid soap and use it as a liquid detergent if you prefer a liquid soap to washing clothes with the whole berries.
Take a look here and get the full recipe for homemade soapberry liquid detergent on this page.
See how to make liquid soapberry detergent here
How to make homemade liquid detergent from soap berries
The homemade soapberry liquid detergent is 100% natural and brilliant for you with allergies or sensitive skin.
You will need:
- 10 Soapberries (or the equivalent of 10 whole berries)
- 1 Liter of water
- Pot
- Fork
- Cloth for draining
- Possibly. a hopper
- (Optional) citric acid as preservative
- Bottle or other container
Here's how you do it:
1.
Use the equivalent of the shells from 10 whole soap berries per liters of water. Cook the shells in a pan over medium heat for approx. 20 minutes - make sure it doesn't foam over. When it has finished boiling, the water should be amber in color (or almost look like beer with foam on top).
2.
Use the back of a fork to press the soapberries against the bottom of the pot once they have boiled. Then extra soap comes out of the berry skins.
3.
When the liquid soap has cooled, it must be drained through a cloth - it can be an old clean tea towel, a cloth or a bag from soap berries that can be used .
4.
Optional: If the soapberry liquid detergent is to last a little longer than a week in the fridge, we recommend preserving it with citric acid to extend its shelf life - then it will last for approx. one month.
Citric acid is a natural preservative that can be bought in most supermarkets in the baking ingredients section. Add 1 tsp. citric acid per 1/2 liter basic soap and stir until dissolved. The shelf life can be extended further if the basic soap is stored in the refrigerator.
5.
Bottle your homemade liquid detergent for storage. If you have an old detergent bottle with a lid for dosing, it is brilliant to use. But any glass bottle etc. Eq. can also easily be used.
How to use the liquid detergent
Use what approx. corresponds to 1 dl of natural liquid detergent in your detergent drawer and wash as usual. Preferably store in the fridge if the liquid detergent is preservative-free.
The soapberry liquid detergent is neutral and without perfume, but if you want a delicious natural scent for your clothes, we have developed some wonderful laundry scents that are blends of organic essential oils that you can drip into the fabric softener drawer. It gives the most wonderful gentle scent to the clothes, but it is a matter of taste whether you want a scent or not.
You can find our laundry fragrances here.
If you want to make the clothes softer, you can use household vinegar in the fabric softener drawer. It helps a lot if you (like us) live in an area with hard water.
Also read how to make your own natural fabric softener here.
You can use the detergent for...
General colored wash 30-90 degrees
Fine washing of wool and silk
We do not recommend the liquid detergent for washing white clothes, as it does not contain additives that preserve or refresh the white color such as bleach or optical white.
We recommend using a stain remover to treat stains, as the detergent does not contain additives such as enzymes that lift tough stains. For that purpose, you can advantageously use our natural stain remover with soapberry and coconut oil.
Enjoy :)
