Modern detergents every year better and better cope with their main task: quickly and efficiently remove various contaminants from fabric products. But it’s no secret that the phosphates, surfactants and other active substances that make up these products often cause various skin irritations, allergic reactions, and sometimes they can also cause more serious harm to human health.
Wood ash - washing powder of our ancestors
How did our mothers and grandmothers cope with washing before the invention of these new-fangled products? For many centuries, our ancestors used wood ash for washing. It is difficult for residents of modern megacities to find this product, since homes are no longer heated with wood. Yes, and there is no need: it was not ash that was used for washing, but ash infusion - a solution of alkali extracted from it. It is much easier to wash with soda ash, which remarkably removes dirt from white flax and cotton in hot water.
How to wash with laundry soap
As far back as the end of the twentieth century, laundry soap was often used for washing, which is still sold in the household chemistry departments. Laundry soap well erases natural fabrics, softening them, which is also important. Heavily soiled things are rubbed with a bar of soap, left soaped for several minutes, and then rinsed, if necessary, repeat the procedure.
A warm solution prepared from 50 g of grated soap and 3 tablespoons of soda per 1 bucket of water can be used for machine washing. When washing dark, woolen, silk things, soda is not added.
Salt washing
Slightly soiled (no stains) cotton and linen items can be washed with sodium chloride. The advantage of such a wash is the preservation of the structure of the fabric and the brightness of the color of colored things. To do this, soak the laundry in saline (a tablespoon of salt per liter of water) for one hour, then rinse thoroughly.
In addition, a salt solution is the best way to remove soot from kitchen tulle curtains.
Mustard - a natural detergent for washing wool and silk
Dry mustard is used for washing silk and wool products. When washing with mustard, such products retain color stability and less “sit down”. There are several ways to do this.
In the first method, an extract of dry mustard (15 g per 1 liter of water) is prepared for several hours. Infusion (without sediment) is added to a basin with water in which it is washed. After washing, things are thoroughly rinsed in clean water. In water for rinsing wool products add a teaspoon of ammonia per 1 liter of water, silk products - 1 tablespoon of vinegar for the same amount of water.
In the second method, dry mustard is bred directly in a basin with water, where it immediately wash or soak things for half an hour.
When machine-washable, about 50 grams of dry mustard is used as a stain on clothing; it is smeared with mustard gruel before washing. The water temperature should not exceed 40 degrees, otherwise the mustard will brew.
