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How did people wash clothes in the past without laundry detergent? What they used was even better

Do you know how people used to do laundry before the invention of laundry detergent?

14 December, 2023

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Nowadays, laundry has become much easier with various types of laundry detergents, fabric softeners, stain removers, etc. In fact, laundry detergent was invented during World War II. But do you know how people used to do laundry before the invention of detergent?

Perhaps when you watch TV, you will see the scene of a woman carrying a basin of clothes to the river to wash. They would wet the clothes, put them on rocks, and use a wooden stick to beat the clothes. Then they would rinse them with water and hang them up to dry.

The principle of this method is to remove dirt from clothes by increasing the friction between the clothes. However, this method is labor-intensive and only cleans normal dust. Stubborn stains from food, oil, etc. cannot be completely removed. Therefore, people are always looking for more effective laundry methods.

Later, they discovered that adding a little bit of ash when washing clothes would be much more effective. Grease stains on clothes can be easily cleaned with ash.

The reason for this is that ash contains potassium carbonate, similar to the ingredients in modern laundry detergents. In addition, some places also crush seashells and mix them with ash to increase the effectiveness.

Later on, they also discovered that certain plants and fruits containing saponin oil, such as soap berries, soapnuts, could clean stains on clothes. They extracted this oil, added some fragrances to create a pleasant scent, and sold it widely.

Laundry products made from soap berries and soapnuts can clean clothes very well and protect the color of the fabric. Moreover, it is also environmentally friendly and does not harm the hands. Nowadays, some people even make their own organic laundry detergent using soapnuts at home.

How to make organic laundry detergent from soapnuts at home

Ingredients:

– Soapnuts: 3kg

– Sugar: 1kg

– Water: 10 liters

– Large plastic container, with a capacity of about 15-20 liters

Instructions:

– Rinse the soapnuts. Dissolve the sugar in the water and then add the soapnuts to the solution. You can use a sieve and a rock to press the soapnuts down and then close the lid and place it in a cool place.

– Open the lid once every few days and stir evenly, then close the lid again. Note that in the first few days, you can loosely cover the lid or place a cloth under the lid to prevent insects from flying in for air exchange.

– After 3 months, you can extract the enzyme solution for use. You can leave the residue for a second soaking. The water part can be used for laundry, and the cloudy water at the bottom can be used for dishwashing.

For 5-7 pieces of clothing, you can take 100-200ml of enzyme solution mixed with water for laundry.

Source: Người đưa tin