Camping with a crawler!

Kids are grubby enough at the best of times and the amount of washing they generate in an environment with easy access to a washing machine is bad enough, let alone when on the road and your washing machine is a bucket on the roof of the car! A crawler just adds a whole new dimension to washing when living on the road. I never want to hurry the kids through developmental milestones, however I'll be one happy mumma when Matilda starts walking! I've always prided myself on whites being white and clothes stain free, but I'm finding that a massive undertaking these days. I've pretty well resigned myself to the fact that Matilda's pants will all be dark at the knees and her tops slightly stained around the neckline. Fortunately I've made some headway getting some nasty stains out of the sleeves of some of her tops. I have to fold the sleeves in on themselves a little before giving a really good rub and they come up pretty well. I'm using a home made washing powder, mostly for environmental reasons. I do much of the washing close to waterways and don't want to contaminate them with anything nasty.

My recipe is: 1 bar of Velvet Pure soap or Sard soap, finely grated 2 cups/500g of Borax (can have environmental impact, but in these levels is considered minimal) 2 cups/500g of Lectric Soda Powder (not the crystals!) Mix together well. Use 2 tbsp per normal sized load. Add a couple of drops of Eucalyptus Oil as a softener. White vinegar also acts as a softener as well as an antibacterial. For tough stains, I use a bar of soap rubbed into the stain and worked in a little to help with removal, though this takes a little more work to rinse out. This is Matilda helping me on washing day (which is most days, really!).