Starving Artists

SPLAT and p:ear present....
Starving Artists a Fundraiser for Portland's Homeless Youth 

Stockus is proud to be a part of this fund raiser for p:ear, a non-profit art community for homeless youth here in Portland. Our goal is to feed and bring art supplies to teens and young adults that either cannot afford, or who have little access to them, and facilitate a positive environment where they can express themselves creatively through art.

We invite you to be a part of our local community and help our youth thrive! Join us for our silent art auction evening at the p:ear gallery with art from local talent, great music, wine, hors d'oeuvres, a raffle, and guest speakers.

Stockus is donating a portion of all items sold at this event to p:ear. 

Free admission. Donations encouraged and appreciated.

When & Where:

Saturday February 21st  6:00pm-9:00pm

p:ear

338 NW 6th Ave, Portland, Oregon 97209

DIY Liquid Laundry Soap

Your Ingredient List

1 whole bar of soap unscented glycerine soap

1 cup washing soda (can be found at your local grocery) 

1/2 cup borax

a 5 gallon bucket with lid or saran wrap

long stirring spoon 

1. In a medium pot add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Cut up the glycerine soap into chunks.

Add the soap to the boiling water and stir until dissolved.

2. Add 3 gallons of warm/hot water to your 5 gallon bucket. This can be done in your tub.  

3. Stir in your pot of dissolved soap in the bucket.  

4. Stir in the 1 cup of washing soda and 1/2 cup borax for 2-3 minutes. 

5. Now you can add your essential oil or oil blend.  

Here are some suggestions:

Lavender, Purify, Lemon, Ylang Ylang, Bergamot, Terrashield, Onguard, Cypress, and Grapefruit to name a few.  

You can use as little as 20 drops and as many as 50.  Experiment with the different amounts and blends of essential oils to see which and how much you prefer.  Blending is a whole other science so if that is intimidating then Purify or Onguard essential oil blends are a great start for your laundry soap.  

After you added your essential oil cover the bucket with a lid or saran wrap and let it sit overnight.  The next day it should be a more gel like consistency.  

The best way to use the soap is to transfer it into a used store bought laundry container so that you can shake it before each use.  I use an arm and hammer container along with used glass juice jars.  For a medium load use 1/2 cup.  

My favorite blends for laundry soap are Terrashield and Onguard.  Terrashield in the summer helps keep the bugs away and is great to use on camping clothes.  The sweet aroma is a natural alternative to smelly toxic bug sprays.  I never go camping without Terrashield.  It is safe on skin and very effective to keep mosquitoes away. I use 30-40 drops.

Onguard works wonders on stains and helps to keep the colds and flues away. 25-30 drops.  

If you want more aroma in your clothes put an essential oil on a dryer ball (made out of wool/yarn) or wet washcloth and put it in the dryer.  2-3 drops.  Floral essential oils will also help soften your fabrics.  

This batch of  laundry soap lasts 3-4 months for a 2 person household and cost roughly $4.15 to make for 3.8 gallons or 121.5 loads.  Thats 3/10 of a penny per load.  I have been making this soap for over 3 years and have saved over $432 on laundry soap in that time.  As a massage therapist I used to get a lot of oil stains on my clothes.  I quickly found out that this detergent will get those stains out. Sometimes not until the second wash.  For tougher stains I make my own stain remover.  This is also great for carpet stains.  I once removed wine and clothing dye from a white carpet with this stain remover and helped a friend get her deposit back.   

Stain remover: 

4 oz glass spray bottle
10 drops of onguard
fill 1/2 Liquid laundry soap
and 1/2 water 

Your liquid laundry soap is safe and non toxic for your household and the environment.  Using dryer balls are a cost effective and non-toxic alternative to dryer sheets which can contain sulfites and harsh chemicals that are irritating to the skin.  

Hope you enjoy your laundry soap as much as I do!