Luxury Laundry Powder

Newsletter 7.2024

I have been so angry, I can’t even! Angry at being so sick every monsoon season as it triggers allergies and it seems each year I get worse. (I’m allergic to penicillin so I absolutely avoid drugs). This time, along with the usual hay-fever followed by viral flu, then a lingering asthma, it’s skin irritations and food allergies! I’m getting older too, and grumpier. And brain-foggy-er. Fortunately I am a rather pro-active fixer. This is nonsense and I don’t accept it. I’m also angry about the fact that sunlight disappears and a polluted fog takes over for nearly five months, making it difficult to go out for a walk. Then I remember I don’t live in a walkable city with parks and gardens, or museums, and going out means getting stuck in polluted traffic, Diwali smog air is yet to come — and that makes me mad all over again because wow the Global North still has it pretty good ha?! All their trash arrives here. Aaaargh! This unfair unjust world!

I spent the last few weeks being a detective, searching for mold and finding it on my clothes hanging in the wardrobe, mold in a bathroom cabinet, and the laundry detergent - that has to go. I’m not sure the chemicals wash off entirely and the persistence of synthetic perfume on the clothes for days after the laundry has dried is a red flag for me. The commercial world of perfumery, cleaning agents, toothpaste, etc. utilise the cheapest aroma molecules across the board. I have emphasized many times that “cheap” and “synthetic” are not interchangeable - there are wonderful expensive synthetic molecules that are a marvel of science!

As usual, I took my madness and transformed it into a stunning creative thing. It also helps that my parents arrived today after spending the last three months in London. They brought me all my treats - yuzu miso paste, bonito flakes, fig leaf and olive oil from Crete, sour cherry molasses (My! Gawwd!), and some balsamic vinegar from Spain. I now have Valrhona dark chocolate for an edible perfume project that has lived in my head since 2018. I want to beat in jasmine sambac CO2 extract into the melted chocolate and reset it in a mould with gem-shapes. One little gem can be dissolved into a cup of coffee or hot chocolate. I’ll say more once I have tested this out. I also bought some new porcelain cups by my favourite UK-based artist, Joanna McPherson. (The cute anxious brush with which i mix my powder is made by her).

After spending a day searching for commercial biodegradable detergents online, I figured —as I always do — I can make this at home in five minutes! I looked up several laundry powder recipes and adapted them for my own use. First, I took some charcoal soap base and made a soap bar with enough neem oil in it. Once it set, it was ready to be grated into one cup of borax powder, and one cup of washing soda. I added one scoop of Vanish laundry detergent booster safe for colours and whites.

Pictured is a packet of Patchouli Hexenol crystals that I had to pound into a smooth powder. This adds a light-weight scent to the formulation. Also known as “Patchone” by the conglomerate International Fragrance Foundation (IFF), these crystals lend a fragrance that is camphorous, leathery, woody and minty.

As I write this, my washing machine has complete its spin and rinse cycle. I tested this “Luxury Laundry” powder with a small batch of clothes and towels and I say! I am most impressed (with myself!). The clothes have washed out quite nicely, they don’t have a leftover-soap feel as the grated charcoal-bar dissolved thoroughly. They smell pleasant and clean! Here’s to sticking to my anti-consumerist ethos and never buying detergent ever again! Take that Proctor and Gamble!

Hmm…I think, I am not angry anymore. 😊

Bonus: Toothpaste recipe

1 tsp coconut oil • 1/2 tsp baking soda • 1/4 tsp hydrogen peroxide (food-grade 3%) • 3 drops peppermint or add some ground cloves and some sea salt.