Friday, January 20, 2012

I GET EXCITED ABOUT THE SMALLEST THINGS ~ PART 1 OF LAUNDRY DETERGENT PROJECT

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Just a little information about me… I LOVE TO SAVE MONEY!!!
A couple of days ago, I was tooling around between blogs when I read a blog where “homemade laundry detergent” was mentioned. That piqued my curiosity, so my next stop was my trusty friend, Mr. Google… I am both amazed and delighted at all the sites I visited. This is exciting and very doable!
It might help the reader to understand me and why I would be so excited so as to blog about it. You see….I was raised by a very thrifty woman. My Mom taught me how to squeeze a penny until it squealed. Ok….maybe that was a little exaggeration, but you can thank my Dad for the expression… Bottom line is that I have lived a lifetime of thriftiness. I use products up, don’t buy every fad that comes along and just generally use my head with my finances. But, mostly, I hate waste and love to save money. This attitude has seen me through some tough times.
My husband told me yesterday that we can afford to buy laundry detergent. Pfffttt…. He will never understand me…
So then…. Here is what I learned yesterday:
First of all, I learned that I can wash a load of clothes for 1-2 cents! YES…I said $ .02. “A penny saved is a penny earned”…blah, blah, blah. Shut-up…I love stuff like this…
Second, I read rave reviews from people who have been doing this for a long time already. I saw the words “clean” and “fresh smelling” repeatedly. Those are my two criteria for my laundry PLUS, whites must come out white...
I learned that there are many, many “recipes” out there, both dry and liquid and varying according to the ingredients used. I choose dry because I really don’t want a bucket of gook in my washroom. Plus, dry looks easier. I’ve always been all about easy…
The “recipe” I finally settled upon is very simple. I only need three ingredients. So… Yesterday, I shopped for supplies.
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The washing soda cost $2.50 and the Borax $4.59. I “shopped “my hall closest for the soap. I have no idea what I paid for the soap, but you can bet it was on sale… My guess is that my total “cost” is likely to be around $10.
Because I only need one or two TABLESPOONS full of the finished product per wash load, this might be all I need to do my laundry for several months and maybe a year. We will see.
I am making my laundry detergent later today. I plan to document the process in another blog, then after using the product, I will report back with results to anyone who is interested.
Stay tuned….
 

Darlene Cirinna

January 20, 2012

34 comments:

  1. I'm interested send me the blog link when you do in case I miss it.

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    1. OK. Will do.. Meanwhile, check out this link: http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/

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    2. Darlene,
      Linda saw this on Jenns wall and she is goona make it. Thanks. Any way to save money makes me happy. Great post.

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  2. Love it! Darlene, you are my inspiration! One of my new years resolutions was to not just cut coupons, but to use them. Let us know how your home made laundry detergent turns out! lol

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    1. I will. It will be soon. I might not make it until tomorrow because I have decided to go for a haircut this afternoon. I do things on impulses.... LOL

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  3. Ah, Darlene! We could go sailing together, because one can always use somebody who thinks like you do on board a ship! I wish I could do the same as far as detergent goes, but unfortunately you can't buy borax for cheap in Germany. But instead I found a recipe today to make my own bisquick powder, because you can't buy that here either (need it to make your yummy-looking cheese biscuits).
    .
    Did you know there was a TV show here, dedicated for making your own ready-made stuff? Stuff like making your own hand soap, and deoderant, and bath salts. They call it "Hobby-Theke". They came out with a whole set of books, too, but they are all in German. :(

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    1. I would LOVE a TV show like that! I have made the melt & pour soap, but I have never been brave enough to mix lye, grease and boiling water, but it is on my bucket list.

      As for the biscuit mix... Share?

      I love do-it-yourself projects. My cousin told me about the DIY site on the internet. I'm going to peruse and see what else I can find to both amuse myself and make myself useful at the same time.

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    2. How about we make Saturday to the "How To" blog day instead of Smorgesbord Day?

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    3. Thank you for the biscuit mix recipe. I will definitely make a batch.

      I'll run the do it yourself blog idea by the other 4 bloggers in our group. I like the idea. I'll get back with you.

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  4. I've been making my own laundry soap for several months now and LOVE it. I'm allergic to Ivory soap, so I buy Zote. It's in the laundry aisle and is only $1 for a big bar. I've been using it dry but am thinking about giving the liquid a try with the next batch. Personally, I do all I can to save money so I can be a stay at home mom. :)

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    1. If I had children, I would have done the same.

      I love Zote. I love Ivory soap too, so, since I already have it in the house, my first batch will be with Ivory.

      Thanks for sharing your experience because I think it will be beneficial for others to read here. Maybe when you try the liquid soap, you will blog and share with us?

      Thanks again, Angie.

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  5. Love this Darlene. I made castile soap until they took lye off the open market. I always wanted to try homemade laundry powder and look forward to your updates. -Kelly

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    1. If you can find Red Devil drain cleaner, it is 100% lye. I had some to make soap, but my husband found it and dumped it into every drain in the house. He is so helpful....

      I love castile soap. I always have a bar handy. Who am I kidding? I LOVE soap (period). I love making melt & pour glycerin soap, experimenting with ingredients. My favorite is oatmeal and almonds ground fine and added to olive oil soap with almond fragrance. Mmmm.... I only have one friend who is as crazy about making soap as I am, but she moved away. sniff, sniff

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  6. I'm interested - as a lady on a budget, this definitely appeals! A friend of mine on Facebook does this but her recipe was way too complicated for me - I'll be interested to see what the process is & how you feel about the efficacy of the detergent. Good luck!

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    1. I will definitely follow up with the process and results. :-)

      Thank you for visiting my blog.

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  7. I want to try this. I think it is necessary that I give this a whirl. I am looking at the dry laundry soap too. I would love to read more from you on the process. This is exciting. I do 3-5 loads of laundry a day!! I know I can save A LOT. Let me know how this works out!! Cheers, Jenn.

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    1. I made it and washed 2 loads today - one white and one black. The white load came out cleaner than the cheap stuff I've been using from Dollar General store. And I did the black load to make sure that it didn't leave white spots on black material. That load came out very nicely too.

      I will finish my blog tonight to share everything I learned today... I am more excited than I was before... Well, maybe the better word is DELIGHTED!

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  8. I have also seen quite a few laundry detergent "recipes" out there and have always been really curious about it. I am going to have to try this out already, I love the idea of washing a load of laundry for 2 cents. That is amazing!

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    1. I made the dry detergent today and I am thrilled with results. I'm posting a blog later with all the info.

      Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope to see you here again.

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  9. How very cool! I am like that as well. I have so many "old" things in my garage because they still work! I refused to pay for a sliding glass door bar lock that you wedged in the door, put a pin in etc... So I made one out of two broom handles - that worked PERFECTLY!

    Yes - even being a guy I want to hear how this works out. Still can't figure out how the bar soap will mix with the dry powders.

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    1. That is exactly what I would do. My husband does things like that too. We make a good pair. We had a new house built in Okeechobee back in 1973. The first thing my husband did was drill two holes straight through both double sliding glass doors where they overlap in the middle. Then he stuck two of the biggest nails I ever saw in the holes. No one ever broke into our house while we lived there.

      I made the detergent today and washed two loads. I am delighted with results. Blog coming up...

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  10. This is an interesting endeavor!

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  11. This sounds fun! But seriously, can you check out your design and make the comments a larger font? Please? I can't read them without enlarging my page like 4 times. ♥ u

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    1. I made many attempts to enlarge the comment font, but without success. So, I tried different fonts until I found one that looked a little easier to read. I hope this helps. I was not happy with it either. Thanks! (heart thingie b/c I don't know how to do it here. LOL)

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  12. Very interesting! I never thought about doing this, but maybe I'll give it a try; however, I have to use sensitive laundry detergent or I get rashes. I wonder how harsh your recipe is.

    My husband roles his eyes when he sees me cutting the bottom off of the toothpaste. I get about two weeks out of it this way!

    Thanks for turning off the music.

    Joyce
    http://jo-mywanderingmind.blogspot.com/

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  13. Hi, Joyce. I never knew we could make laundry detergent either. I made it today and used it. I love it! I ended up using Zote laundry soap because I already use Zote for stains that needed a little extra scrubbing. I consider it very mild. If you want to try it before you invest in the supplies, PM your address to me and I'll mail you some in a ziplock snack bag. I don't mind doing that considering your sensitivity to harsh detergents.

    As for the toothpaste... I have never cut the bottom off, but I use the handle of my toothbrush to flatten the tube while I shove the contents to the top. LOL... My husband rolls his eyes too.

    About the music... You are very welcome. I don't even miss it...

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  14. I have heard about making your own detergent but I have never known anyone who has. I am REALLY looking forward to see how this turns out. And I agree with you and your Mom's philosophy of waste not, want not. When it comes to my shampoo, conditioner, hand lotion and ketchup, I ALWAYS turn over those bottles and transfer the ends until the bottle is wiped clean! Hey, I feel like if you don't use things up to the very end, it's like throwing money out...and who wants to do that?

    As for toothpaste, I bought a set of those squeezer things at the dollar store to get every last bit out. I consider it an investment that has been paid back hundreds of times over.

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    1. I can't help myself... I have to use things up ~ even if it means something hangs around the house for 10 years before I throw it in the garbage.... I'm looking for a cure for that illness...

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  15. Well iam happy jimmy is ok

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  16. I've been reading your blog from time to time and i love your posts. It's cool to know that at your age you actively blogs. Keep it up and please don't be tired with it!

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