On moving into our new house with an open terrace and plenty of sunshine, I started drying all kinds of things like pomogranate peels and hibiscus flowers (for natural dyeing), and other herbs to experiment with. That's for a separate post.
As I started collecting sundried used coffee grounds and sundried citrus peels, I came upon an idea for a homemade dishwash powder. After several rounds of experimentation, here's a recipe that's been working great for us. Yes, on all the greasy pots and pans too. It's making cost (including ingredients and grinding cost) is just over Rs.50 per kilo.
Please feel free to try it out yourself or help make a small enterprise out of it. Because of the nature of the availability of used coffee grounds (in small quantities), any enterprise using this recipe can only remain small and local. Just the way it should be. smile emoticon
Recipe
Used Coffee Grounds - 50%
Sieve it fine for best results. I have started collecting them from the local Kumbakonam Degree Coffee Shop to have the joy of making more and sharing with friends here.
Citrus Peel Powder - 25%
I bought a whole sack of sweet lime peels from a roadside juice vendor, sundried it, and took it to the local flour mill. It gave me a whole lot of powder to last a year!
I bought a whole sack of sweet lime peels from a roadside juice vendor, sundried it, and took it to the local flour mill. It gave me a whole lot of powder to last a year!
Shikakai Powder - 12.5%
Soapnut Powder - 12.5%
You can experiment adding other locally available materials like wood ash, neem powder, dried tamarind powder, tamarind leaf powder, coir pith, etc.
Try it. Let me know how it goes! smile emoticon
7 comments:
Thanks so much for sharing this Sangee!
I tried the recipe and it works really well. Thanks for sharing Sangeetha
Great to know that! :)
How long do you need to sundry the citrus peels for? And do you use them as is or first remove the pith? Llthank you, looking forward to trying this recipe soon..
Venetia, when the peels break easily when you try to bend them, i.e. when they have become brittle, they are dry enough. I use all of it, including seeds, pith and all. You need to find a local flour mill which will grind it for you. One that mills Shikakai should be able to do that. Good luck with this! :)
Hi Sangeetha, tried tis n it works perfectly well.thanks on tat..would like to kno similar ec-friendly alternatives for laundry detergent as well..soapnuts don seem to work well on soiled/white clothes.
Hello ! I am so thankful for this recipe . I wants to know foe the other options you have given ; what should be the percentage
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