Sunday, March 29, 2009

Challenge for you....

Make your own laundry detergent!!

I was going through our budget a few weeks ago and realized that I was spending at least $30 on laundry supplies every couple weeks... that's obsurd!! So I did some research and found a great way to make my own laundry detergent. I made it a week ago and I LOVE IT!!

My laundry is fresh, soft and smells great... the best part... it's clean and CHEAP!!

After I figured the costs it works out to be 3 cents per load. My initial $12 investment will give me 6 gallons of detergent. I use 1/4 cup of detergent in each load. That's 384 loads for $12. The best part is the next time I buy supplies I'll already have the $7 bucket with lid so I'll only need to invest $5... EVEN CHEAPER!! LOVE IT!!

So here is your challenge... find something in your home that you can made to help reduce your budget! If you want to make laundry soap I've included the directions and pictures. :)
Please post what you are going to make and share your results!!




You'll need the following:
5 gallon bucket with lid
20 mule team Borax
Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
Fels-Naptha bar soap
Directions:
Grate 1/3 bar of fels-naptha soap
Add soap to 6 cups of water in saucepan and heat until melted
Add 1 cup of borax and 1 cup of washing soda
Stir until dissolved.
Pour 4 cups of HOT water into 5 gallon bucket
Add soap mixture to bucket and stir until well mixed



Add 10 drops of essential oil (optional!) We like Sweet Orange or Eucalyptus
Final product looks like "egg drop soup"... it may be a bit chunky.
Store covered and stir once a week.
Have fun experimenting!!! :)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I am trying to pull myself together enough to clean and you are making your own DETERGENT!
I am so not worthy.....

Anonymous said...

GET. OUT.

Amazing. How did you come up with this? And for that matter, how does your brain always keep coming up with brilliant stuff like this?
I would just have kept buying detergent forever, not even thinking there was an alternative. We could always go back to the original basics, where they made soap from beef fat....know anybody who's got a spare cow handy we could butcher?

Cynthia said...

I've always meant to try this. I don't think I can now though since I have front loaders and they are so picky about soap. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to experiment. It's totally awesome that you took it on though. I'm sure its much healthier for your skin than the abrasive detergents.

I make my own soap already (similar to fels naptha but much better). Homemade soap sells for about $5-8 per bar but I can make it for 88 cents. And that's with fancy oils and amazing scents.

adventures in mommyland said...

THIS WORKS GREAT for front loaders as well because it's a low sudsing soap. Just thought you should know.