Homemade Laundry Detergent

In desperation to find enough shelves in my brain to house all the thoughts, ideas and tasks that I create for myself, I decided to dedicate some of the blog to sort out these ideas. There are a few things I need to get straight and do research on, but without dedicated time, they fall through the cracks.

Since quitting my job in May, money is tight. It keeps getting tighter, and I need to find smart ways of getting our house in order, saving money, and paying off those elusive debts that seem to never go away.

I have a couple areas I'm trying to clean up my life, and money is the biggest thing on my plate right now. I want to get our money in a smart state and run a household with brains and pennies instead of convenience and chaos.

With that in mind, I've decided that dedicating a certain day to my plights, might aid me in fixing these areas (or making a small, but visible dent in the sides). This assures me that I do actually have to time set aside for my journey.

So starting today, I will brave Tuesdays with my money saving ideas and see if they actually do pan out, or if they are merely ideas that have no merit.

Today is Tuesday, so here we go!

HOMEMADE LAUNDRY DETERGENT

I love Pinterest. I love Pinterest too much. It is a devourer of my time. However, good can come of this. I discovered this idea of Homemade Laundry Detergent on there.

I'll attach the link that started my brain working on this idea, but I ended up reading many different sites, many different ideas, and then creating a concoction of what I had readily available at my fingertips. And what made sense the most financially.

In the original version that I read, they discussed using baking soda as well as washing soda, and oxyclean. I did more research, and a lot of what I read lead me to believe that the baking soda is for hard water and the oxyclean is for more cleaning power. We live in a small town, and have well water, so our water is hard, however we use a softener, and I read in several spots that that will eliminate the need for the soda.

I also read many recipes that did not include oxyclean, so I figured that if my laundry wasn't coming out clean enough, I could always add a sprinkling of this if I found I needed to. Yesterday I washed our bedding and it looked and smelled very clean.

Also, for people who want their detergent to have a stronger smell, can add laundry crystals or use a stronger smelling soap. I don't need my laundry smelling like fields of clover, or like I'm burying my face into a bouquet of flowers. I just need it to smell clean. So, this wasn't an issue for me.

My recipe:
5 1/2 Cups Borax
5 1/2 Cups Washing Soda (NOT BAKING SODA)
1 1/2 Bars Ivory Soap

I used Ivory Soap for 2 reasons...actually 3.

1) Several recipes suggested it
2) I buy it anyway and so have piles of it in my cupboard
3) It's a pure, natural, nothing-added soap and that makes me feel better about myself. I like feeling good about myself. :)

You use a cheese grater to grate your soap. The grater is easy to wash later and bonus, it's super clean. Mix all the ingredients together in a large container and VOILA! Laundry detergent.

Use 1-2 tbsp per load. This will dissolve in both warm and cold water which makes it even more wonderful.

Now, with money saving tips, I also don't want to be spending countless hours to save a couple pennies, so my motto is "the effort has to equal the savings".

I'm pretty sure this one hits the motto on the head.

Ivory Bars: $3.47 for a pack of 10 (enough for 6 batches)
Borax: $5.99 (enough for 2 batches)
Washing Soda: $5.97 (enough for 2 batches with some leftover)

So one batch equals $6.51

Soap ($3.47/10*1.5) = $0.52
Borax ($5.99/2) = $3.00
Soda ($5.97/2) = $2.99

The batch will make enough for approximately 125 loads (I measured out my "practice" one before using accurate measurements on my second batch so this is my guesswork) . That works out to $0.05/load!

If you buy TIDE's PODS (which I usually don't but have the last 2 times because they are convenient and my kids don't pour the liquid all over the machines and let it run down the sides....), they sell for $19 for 77 pods. That is $0.25/load!

I would say that is pretty good savings.

It took me about 10 minutes to measure, grate and mix and put it into a ziploc bag. I want to get a pretty container like the lady who turned me onto this idea, but we have to do these things one at a time.

Anyway, HAPPY DETERGENT MAKING!