Gloop!

The laundry gloop is going okay.  It washed a really greasy oven glove and it came out beautiful and white.  I have noticed that the clothes washed in it smell a bit 'fusty'.

The oven glove is one of the old fashioned white cotton types that is older than bear and it was well overdue a wash.  I washed it in a warm, long wash.  The nature of things means that most lightly soiled clothes put in a washing machine will come out more or less clean.  Water cleans things quite well and the action of the washing machine really helps.  It would be a surface clean, though, and not so good against grease.  The oven glove came out a lovely white, though.  I think I will risk it for whites.

I also have experience of the clothes on our line coming in smelling 'fusty' even when using traditional powder.  However I have been a bit worried about how the keeping qualities of the gloop, and even though I have used vinegar in the rinse I am not sure about keeping it 'fresh'.   I have bought a small bottle of tea tree oil to add a few drops to each wash.  I don't know how that will affect its cost effectiveness.  The little bottle was £2.89 and I expect that it would have to last a few batches of gloop to keep it cheaper than value powder.  I think even if it only lasted a single batch it would still last longer than a decent powder and so far the results have been good.

The shirt, btw, that bear took in was cut into strips and woven into a display.  Bear 'couldn't remember and can he have a packet of fruit bottles?'  So I asked a teacher.