I love ZOTE!!!

 You might wonder what in the world that is! Soap, is what. 

Pink soap.

Pretty soap.

Pretty smelling soap.

Gentle on your clothes soap.

 

 When my baby was younger she had a rash on her skin...I was told I should change the laundry soap to wash her clothes with. Being the crunchy mama that I am, I mixed together borax and washing soda and just used that. It worked well enough.I could have made my laundry detergent, but that is quite a bit more work...

 Well, then I saw another blogger who had made detergent using zote. I thought that looked so pretty!

When I saw that our local store sold it, I wasted no time buying some...

  I love the smell. It's natural citronella oil.

For just 50 cents, you can get a big bar of soap from Amazon and make some pretty looking and great smelling laundry detergent yourself! Just take a box borax, one box washing soda or soda ash as its called here, and one box baking soda. Add a big bar or two smaller ones of shredded zote soap, and have fun washing from now on! Its natural and gentle and costs a lot less than any other detergent. Most sites say to use only 2 tablespoons of this powder per load, but if I have dirty farm or oily pants to wash, that won't be enough. Then I use about the same amount or more than other detergent.

You can also get white zote, if you prefer to go all white.

 Here is the excerpt from the zote website describing the contents and some history of the soap:

ZOTE is a laundry soap made with coconut oil and tallow, containing optical brighteners, which shape and size are ideal to wash by hand. Actually, in Spanish “jabonzote” (Jabón Zote) means a big soap.

Many years ago, in the rural areas of Mexico it was common to see women washing their clothes with ZOTE on special boards in the rivers, or in washbasins at their homes; since its launching in 1970, ZOTE became one of the favorite products for Mexican housewives to remove difficult stains and wash delicate clothes.

In the beginning, ZOTE was made with a nearly manual process. Nowadays, we have the latest equipment and state of the art technology to manufacture this and all of our products; but we continue keeping the original formula that made ZOTE the absolute leader in the Mexican market.

But, how is it that ZOTE is still preferred by housewives in our days, when it is increasingly less common for people to wash by hand?

The basic natural ingredients used in the manufacture of ZOTE are the same used to make bath soaps; therefore, these are non-abrasive ingredients, which make ZOTE the ideal product to wash delicate garments which may be damaged in the washing machine (such as sweaters, knitwear and underwear), preserving them in good conditions and extending their life. In view of this characteristic, a lot of people use it to wash the clothes of people with sensitive skin or baby’s clothes. 

In spite of the above, it has outstanding cleaning properties which make it ideal to pre-wash shirt necks and cuffs and to remove difficult stains.

Another of the distinctive features of ZOTE is its fragrance: essential  citronella oil, a plant that originally came from Europe, which posseses a pleasant smell similar to lime; thanks to this ingredient, the clothes washed with ZOTE smell fresh and fragrant for several days.

Happy laundry times!

Laundry Stain Remover

This recipe is very simple. I put it in a neat spray bottle. I find that the best place to keep this bottle is in the bathroom, where the dirty clothes can be sprayed and have a chance to soak before they get to the washing machine. Handy!


1 cup laundry detergent
1 cup household Ammonia
1 cup hot water
1/4 cup dishwashing detergent

Mix together and shake well.

(After posting this recipe originally, I realized I used too much ammonia, so I changed it. I couldn't stand the smell when spraying my laundry, but this way it is much more diluted, but works just as well. If you still find the smell unbearable, you can add one more cup of laundry detergent.)

Have fun!

Borax -- Yay! (Laundry Detergent)

I recently told you about the buttermilk I was not able to get here in Belize. Well, borax was another product pretty much unheard of around here. It was quite frustrating for me when we moved here to have to do without these products I was so used to in the US.

I constantly used to make my own laundry detergent. It was fun, frugal, and a healthy alternative to storebought detergent. Seeing I couldn't get borax here to make my own, I reluctantly turned to using storebought.

One day I just decided to ask the service boys here at the local store if it would be possible for them to order borax. They took down the name of the product, and now, several weeks later, I went shopping and was surprised! There on the shelf sat a row of borax boxes!...;) I was so happy. I grabbed two boxes, (in case they run out soon) and now I am back in the business of making laundry detergent! The store usually already sells washing soda, and I make my own lye soap, so the rest is history.

I encourage you to try it, if you haven't yet and are feeling a little experimental or frugal.

Laundry Detergent

1 quart Water (boiling)
2 cups Bar soap (grated)
2 cups Borax
2 cups Washing Soda

Add finely grated bar soap to the boiling water and stir until soap is melted. You can keep on low heat until soap is melted.

Pour the soap water into a large, clean pail and add the Borax and Washing Soda. Stir well until all is dissolved.

Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed.

Cover pail and use 1/4 cup (I use more) for each load of laundry. Stir the soap each time you use it (will gel).

My personal note: If mixing it this way does not work well for you, you may want to try what I usually do. Into three separate jars pour hot boiling water. (slowly so you won't break the jars...) Add borax to one, washing soda to another, and soap to one. Stir one by one till all is dissolved. Let the jars cool separately, and pour into a big container with water until you have the required amount. 

Hopefully I can soon add more recipes including laundry softener and stain remover. Have fun!