Thoughts for a Monday....

Make your own laundry detergent

Alex and I joke that we're one step away from becoming Amish. So far we have given up cable television, Diet Coke and now, Tide. But, they're all good changes and we're learning to be more resourceful with our time and energy. (However, I cannot lie I miss Diet Coke a lot and I cheat on our Soda Stream every chance I get.)

On Pinterest, I pinned a few different DIY Laundry Detergent's and I decided to give this one a whirl. 

Shopping List: 

1 (4 lb. 12 oz.) Box Borax

1 (3 lb. 7 oz.) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

1 (3 lb.) Carton of OxyClean

2 (14 oz.) Bars of Zote or Fels Naptha Laundry Soap

1 (4lb.) Box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda 

2 (28 oz. ) Bottles of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener - I used Tropical Splash and it smells fantastic!

(The box of Milk Duds is optional...)

Now that you've assembled all of your ingredients, you may begin. The blog that I followed gave several seemingly helpful hints, but I'm a Murphy's Law kind of girl. If something should be easy, it never is. 

The other blog's suggestions to shred the Zote soap blocks were:

 

1. Grate it with a cheese grater (rumor has it that this takes forever, so that wasn't an option for me). 

2. You can "melt" it in the microwave for 1 minute and then crumble it after it's dry. 

3. Cube the soap and then put it in your food processor to shred. 

I obviously opted for #2. Melt it and one minute later you're done. WRONG. It did not go accordingly. It got runny and not fluffy or crumble-able. So, I went to Wal-Mart (again) and bought more Zote. I then cubed it and sent it through the processor (much better). 

After that's done, you just mix all of the ingredients. I started with a large mixing bowl and after my box of baking soda was in, there was no more room. So, I moved to a small-ish tote which worked perfectly. 

You won't need to purchase a scoop because there's one in the OxyClean container. Also, if you want easy pour-ability you can put your detergent in one of the empty Purex Crystal containers. The Purex cap has three lines in it. The second line is about 2 tablespoons, which is exactly how much you will need per load. Genius.  

So, the big question: Why make your own when there are shelves of ready made varieties at the store?

-This en devour cost me right at $30. Currently I do five loads of laundry per week (sheets & towels, my work clothes, 2 dark loads and 1 light). The Tide we use is good for 96 loads which is about 19 weeks of our laundry and the Tide costs $18. So annually, we spend about $55 on laundry detergent. Based on the original bloggers calculation this detergent should last over a year and only cost  us $30. Which, if you're a whiz at math you can easily see that you're saving $25/year by making your own!

-Also, you get the satisfaction of knowing that you made your own laundry detergent and it's a fun afternoon of creating! 

(I am not, whatsoever claiming that I am the originator of this "recipe" all creative rights belong to the bloggers of: Blissful 55. I am just passing along my experiences.) 

Thought for a Monday...

House Tour: Basement

The basement was a huge selling point for Alex when we were looking/buying. It has a finished portion and an unfinished portion. The unfinished portion is home to our washer and dryer, treadmill, tools and other miscellaneous things. The finished part could be called a "man cave" but I spend the same amount of time in it and it's too well decorated for that business so, no neon signs or beer fridges. The fireplace has been great this winter.Without further delay, I now present the basement-finished side: