Beating the Blahs {Part 4 - All Thing Homemade}

I can't believe it's already the middle of March! What on earth?!?

I thought that the winter would be boring and slow so I decided to do this "Beating the Blahs" series to keep me productive. I had no idea this would end up being probably the busiest winter of my adult life thus far.

It's okay. I'm loving it!

That doesn't get me out of the final "beating the blahs." I will be focusing on all things homemade.

First, I must tell you that I do not have a conviction to get rid of everything store-bought just because it might have something iffy in it (what doesn't cause cancer anymore??). While I am a fan of all-natural for sure (been buying Melaleuca for most of my life!), my main goal is to save money. And hopefully save money while keeping it as natural as possible!

Some SAHM's have a home-based business. Some do the coupon thing. God has made it very clear on a number of occasions that neither are for me! But making things at home to save money... I enjoy it and so far God is blessing it!

You may recall the homemade laundry soap I make now that has saved us lots of moolah.

We were spending about $10/month on laundry detergent (this was before Kempton!). Now I spend about $12 every 6 months or so. That looks like a pretty stinkin' good deal to me.

What is next on the homemade agenda?

Dishwasher Detergent.

The Ingredients:

1C Borax
1/2C Washing Soda
1/2C Baking Soda
4 Packets unsweetened lemonade (or citric acid)
1/2C Kosher Salt

Put all ingredients in a container at least 32oz in size. Seal up and shake!

Use 1T per load. Then add white vinegar as a rinsing agent to your machine.

Because of the citric acid (lemonade), this will probably get clumpy. I left the container open for a few hours, stirring occasionally. And each time I go to use some, I stir it. After the first day I haven't had any trouble with clumping.

Check out THIS SITE for cost breakdown and lots more info.

Next up: Handsoap/Body Wash. Suggestions or recommendations appreciated! Also, if you make something homemade that you love, please share!

Homemade Laundry Soap

The 4 laundry baskets in the house are overflowing. It's time to declare this day Laundry Day. I throw the first load in the washer and begin adding the laundry soap. It sputters and spits and laughs in my face.

Later that day, my sweet friend, Amanda, generously handed over a huge baggie of homemade laundry soap just in time.

Why have I waited so long to join the homemade soap world?

I had some trouble with the Fels-naptha dissolving in my front loader so I decided it was time to do some research and make up my own once payday finally arrived. Amanda sent me the recipe she used, I read through a million comments on that blog and several others, and decided on this...

Ingredients:

4lb box borax
55oz box super washing soda
4lb box (or, in my case, 3 boxes that equal 4lbs) baking soda
2 canisters oxi clean
3 bars ivory soap (only 2 are pictured)
1 bottle Purex Crystals for scent

Microwave the soap one bar at a time for about 2 minutes. The kids and I enjoyed watching it turn from this...

to this...

Then to make sure it would have no trouble dissolving, I stuffed the puff into the food processor til it looked like this...

I'll tell ya, it was annoying cleaning out the microwave and food processor but I've had no trouble with this soap dissolving!

Throw this and the rest of the ingredients into a huge bucket and stir.

All I use is 1Tbsp per load that I throw directly into the drum before the clothes. I have been very happy with the results so far! 

And best of all, I spent a total of $24.01. 6-8 months of laundry soap for 24 bucks?? Yes, please.

I don't have a cute jar with "laundry" printed on it because we're broke. But that will come eventually!

Feel free to ask me questions or visit the blog with the original recipe and read through comments for answers.

Thank you, Amanda!

UPDATE (3-12-13): I recently put together my second batch. I left out the Purex crystals because of my daughter's skin reaction, and because it wasn't strong enough to leave the clothes smelling fresh once they were cleaned and dried.
I also decided to try Fels Naptha again, this time putting it into my food processor to make sure it was small enough to dissolve well. So far so good! I needed something stronger than the ivory soap, especially for Derek's work clothes!