Yes, I am slightly addicted.
Today I decided to make homemade laundry detergent and dish washing detergent (which I did not get one thing…so that will be a later post).
WHY did I decide to do this (was the first thing Wade asked when he walked in the door)? No, it is not about saving the environment and being all granola. Although I would enjoy that, it would be impossible in my right-winged conservative house. It was about saving money.
I am not ashamed to admit Wade and I are Tide snobs. It makes our clothes smell SOOOOOO good. But after months of experimenting we found that the added Febreeze makes us both itchy, so we went on a laundry detergent hunt. We have been using Gain, and it is ok, but nothing like Tide. But whatever we choose, it is still pretty expensive. We pay around $17-20 a container that lasts about 40 loads. (Roughly 6-8 loads a week means we are buying it every 5 weeks.)
In comes Pinterest with all of its crafty goodness! Here is the original link:
Being Creative
Yes, I followed it exactly and am hoping I can go 9 months without buying laundry detergent!
Cost breakdown from Walmart (about $25…but that includes a $10 container):
Container- $9.97
1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz)- $3.38
1 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg)- $2.08
1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz)- $3.24
3 bars of Fels-naptha soap, found in the detergent isle- $2.91
2 small containers of store brand oxyclean (try to get about 3.5 lbs total (1.58 kg))- $3.92
Initial thoughts…so far I have done 4 loads of laundry with it (about 2 tablespoons per load). Our clothes come out smelling…clean not overly fragranced. I can’t tell about stains yet, I have 2 girls that don’t get too messy. I am not a fan of powders, I don’t think they work as well, but so far I am pleased. I tried first putting the powder in the water then adding the clothes, I also tried mixing a small cup with water and 2T of powder and then lastly I put the powder directly on the clothes. It all seemed to work the same. I will update in a few months and let you know how much I use before I have to get new detergent!