I am so addicted to Pinterest!!!!! I love this site! I find myself on it all the time. So, I decided to write about it. There are so many great ideas and I am going to try them out.
Being the thrifty girl I am I have to try some of the homemade house items and put them to the test. First up for bids is the homemade laundry detergent. I have decided to try my own version of these 2 pins:
http://whynotsew.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-to-make-homemade-laundry-detergent.html
and
In the past I have tried cheaper laundry detergents. But I always tend to go back to Tide. The cheaper detergents just don't clean as well and I always seem to use more than I should have to. In the end Tide has always been the most cost efficient compared to how many loads I can get cleaned. Plus, it seems that the cheaper detergent fades the clothes faster. So this will be very interesting to see how this turns out.
I thought about doing the liquid but really didn't want to take a chance ruining my huge pot I use for making stuff for canning. I also didn't want to have to worry about storage space either. So... I opted for dry.
I used both recipes to guide me in my own. This is what I used:
1 bar of Fels Naptha
1 cup of Borax
1 cup of washing soda
Both recipes said to grate the bar of soap. Thank goodness for food processors. It took almost no time at all to grate the bar soap using this wonderful machine. I then mixed all three ingredients together. It wasn't hard but I just didn't like how it looked so I put the mixture back into my food processor together ( a little at a time) and chopped it all together. It was WONDERFUL!!!! Everything was all mixed together fine. This is what it looked like:
Now, the true test. How well does it work? I went by recommendation and used 2 tablespoons for 1 full load of laundry.
** ON a side note** Just a little word of advice here. When loading up your washing machine you do not want to over load it. To truly get nice clean clothes you want all clothing items to move freely in the water. This is a constant battle in my home. Everyone else wants to cram as much as possible into the machine so they don't have to do as many loads. This is BAD BAD BAD! Not only do the clothes not come out as clean but it is extremely hard on a machine. Trust me. We are on our second machine in 6 years and it struggles now. Cramming your washing machine will wear it out faster. At least, in my opinion.
Ok, back on track now. I have done about 5 loads so far using this recipe. And like noted on the other blogs I have read, you do not get much soapy suds. I can tell you that when I peaked into the machine a few minutes after it has been running I was like ICK! The water was definitely not clear. After running through the dryer the clothes did appear to be nice and clean. I really won't know for sure until I have used it for a few weeks. It always seems to be that way every time I try a new laundry detergent. It always seems to be good in the beginning but then after a bit it just does not do the job. I can tell you, I washed the rug for the entry door to the kitchen and it looks pretty clean to me. This is the rug that everyone wipes their feet on.
I did take the time to measure out each load to come up with how many loads this makes. 23 loads
Total cost?
Hard to say as I did not use the whole box of anything but the bar of soap. This is how much it cost to buy the ingredients at Walmart and I used math to try to break it all down:
Mule Team Borax $3.38 / 10 cups per box= .338
Arm & Hammer Washing Soda $3.24 / 6 cups per box= .54
1 Bar of Nels Naptha soap $0.97
For a Grand Total of ... $7.59 plus sales tax
If I did the math correctly it cost $1.89
$1.89 / 23 = $.082
Tide 90 load at $17.97 = $0.20
AND, I have enough left over to try the dishwasher detergent!
Being the thrifty girl I am I have to try some of the homemade house items and put them to the test. First up for bids is the homemade laundry detergent. I have decided to try my own version of these 2 pins:
http://whynotsew.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-to-make-homemade-laundry-detergent.html
and
In the past I have tried cheaper laundry detergents. But I always tend to go back to Tide. The cheaper detergents just don't clean as well and I always seem to use more than I should have to. In the end Tide has always been the most cost efficient compared to how many loads I can get cleaned. Plus, it seems that the cheaper detergent fades the clothes faster. So this will be very interesting to see how this turns out.
I thought about doing the liquid but really didn't want to take a chance ruining my huge pot I use for making stuff for canning. I also didn't want to have to worry about storage space either. So... I opted for dry.
I used both recipes to guide me in my own. This is what I used:
1 bar of Fels Naptha
1 cup of Borax
1 cup of washing soda
Both recipes said to grate the bar of soap. Thank goodness for food processors. It took almost no time at all to grate the bar soap using this wonderful machine. I then mixed all three ingredients together. It wasn't hard but I just didn't like how it looked so I put the mixture back into my food processor together ( a little at a time) and chopped it all together. It was WONDERFUL!!!! Everything was all mixed together fine. This is what it looked like:
Now, the true test. How well does it work? I went by recommendation and used 2 tablespoons for 1 full load of laundry.
** ON a side note** Just a little word of advice here. When loading up your washing machine you do not want to over load it. To truly get nice clean clothes you want all clothing items to move freely in the water. This is a constant battle in my home. Everyone else wants to cram as much as possible into the machine so they don't have to do as many loads. This is BAD BAD BAD! Not only do the clothes not come out as clean but it is extremely hard on a machine. Trust me. We are on our second machine in 6 years and it struggles now. Cramming your washing machine will wear it out faster. At least, in my opinion.
Ok, back on track now. I have done about 5 loads so far using this recipe. And like noted on the other blogs I have read, you do not get much soapy suds. I can tell you that when I peaked into the machine a few minutes after it has been running I was like ICK! The water was definitely not clear. After running through the dryer the clothes did appear to be nice and clean. I really won't know for sure until I have used it for a few weeks. It always seems to be that way every time I try a new laundry detergent. It always seems to be good in the beginning but then after a bit it just does not do the job. I can tell you, I washed the rug for the entry door to the kitchen and it looks pretty clean to me. This is the rug that everyone wipes their feet on.
I did take the time to measure out each load to come up with how many loads this makes. 23 loads
Total cost?
Hard to say as I did not use the whole box of anything but the bar of soap. This is how much it cost to buy the ingredients at Walmart and I used math to try to break it all down:
Mule Team Borax $3.38 / 10 cups per box= .338
Arm & Hammer Washing Soda $3.24 / 6 cups per box= .54
1 Bar of Nels Naptha soap $0.97
For a Grand Total of ... $7.59 plus sales tax
If I did the math correctly it cost $1.89
$1.89 / 23 = $.082
Tide 90 load at $17.97 = $0.20
AND, I have enough left over to try the dishwasher detergent!
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