Homemaking

NOT JUST TO SAVE MONEY
BUT FOR EMERGENCIES TOO!!

What would you do if you couldn't go to the store for awhile do to lack of supply in the stores or because it just wasn't safe for one reason or another? Do you have enough of EVERYTHING?! Yes, I'm not just talking about water and food, but do you have enough soap and kleenex and baby wipes and toilet paper and laundry detergent?

Well, if not, you may want to think about stocking up on a few simple items along with a bunch of spray bottles, etc. and making your own cleaning supplies at home. (As well as stocking up on toilet paper- cause who really wants to run out of that in an emergency?) I believe the biggest reason for doing this when times are GOOD is so that you can have practice and a stock pile for when times are BAD.

Here are two FABULOUS recipes from makingcentsofsavings.blogspot.com that can help you make a stock pile of laundry detergent and handsoap for when times are bad. If you do your handsoap this way- you'll automatically have a stock pile SO FAST! I LOVE doing it this way because, well, we use A LOT of soap around here- so now I KNOW I have a long back up supply with my refill bottles from Costco!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Ingredients:

1 bar Fels Naptha soap

1 cup washing soda (arm & Hammer)

1 cup of 20 Mule Team Borax

*Grate the bar of Fels Naptha with a cheese grater. Place the grated Fels Naptha in a saucepan and cover with 6-8 cups of water. Heat on low until dissolved.

*Add 1 cup of washing soda and 1 cup of Borax and mix well. Pour mixture into 5-gallon bucket. Fill the bucket with warm water, and stop when you get within 3 inches from the top. Stir well.

*As it cool, it will thicken. Use 1/2 - 1 cup per wash load. Safe for H.E. Washers too.

Yields approx. 75 cups

Once your laundry detergent cools, stir it one more time with a wisk. You might have to put your hand in there to reach the bottom. It will look kind of like egg drop soup, but the more you stir it the more pasty it will look. You can either use the detergent right out of the 5-gallon bucket, but if your like me....you prefer less mess. I had saved a couple of my empty laundry detergent bottles (and then asked friends and family for some of theirs) and then poured my detergent into the empty bottles. Make sure to rinse them out first before you start pouring in your homemade stuff.

My total on my 3 items where:

1 box Borax-$3.49 (can make up to nine 5-gallon buckets worth)

1 box Wash soda-$2.73 (can make up to six or seven 5-gallon buckets worth)

1 Fels Naptha Bar-$1.06

I figured out that one 5-gallon bucket of homemade laundry detergent approx. costed me $2.00 to make and that each wash load will only cost me $0.03-$0.04. Now that's definitely saving money!

Posted by Stephanie at 7:53 PM

Homemade Laundry Detergent Tips

First off, I want to let everyone know that all of my frugal posts will be true, tried, and tested. That way you know that everything that I post on here will be proof that it really does work and it's not just something that I heard about.

My mother in law is the one who gave me the recipe for the homemade laundry detergent. She has made it several times and uses it all the time. She no longer buys store bought laundry detergent, which is so great. Here's some questions that people have asked me about the laundry detergent.

1. Can you scent your own laundry detergent?

Yes! I spoke with my mother in law and she said that you can use essential oils. She tried a lemon scented oil and it smelled fantastic. But......there is a but! You need to use an entire bottle of essential oil to scent one bucket of laundry detergent. That can get a little pricey, but if you want to do it, YOU CAN! So, rock on! I made my first batch of detergent yesterday and I'll let you in on a secret. This detergent smells fantastic just by itself. While I was making it on the stove, my whole house smelled wonderful. The smell is so clean, fresh, and crisp. I don't think it needs any extra scenting, but that's my opinion.

2. How many empty detergent jugs will it make?

It depends on the size of your detergent jugs. If you use regular sized jugs, you'll get about 2 to 4 filled full.

3. How do I make my detergent look really creamy?

Stir, stir, stir! With a wisk of course. The more it cools and the more you stir, the creamier it will become. But, if you don't really care what it looks like, that's cool too. It works no matter what you do to it. Here's another little secret that I figured out. If you don't like stirring (which I don't because I get a little impatient) just pour your detergent into your old empty detergent jugs and shake them. The more you shake....WaaLaa! Creamy detergent!

Posted by Stephanie at 2:11 PM

Labels: Cleaners, Food Storage, Laundry, Tips

May 12, 2009

Homemade Foaming Hand Soap

As you know I love to save $$, and my favorite frugal tips are the simple ones! Following is how I keep the costs down on hand soap...

My favorite soap for the bathrooms and kitchen are the Bath & Body Works antibacterial foaming soaps. The big fluffy suds that come out are so fun the kids even enjoy washing their hands!

So one day I got creative, and attempted to make my own refill for my existing bottle.

Guess what... it worked! I've been doing this for about 5 years now, and have saved loads of money with this simple trick.

What You'll Need: Liquid Antibacterial Soap (Softsoap, Dial, etc.) & 1 empty bottle of Bath & Body Works Antibacterial Gentle Foaming Hand Soap (the other styles of bottles will not work).

Step #1: Fill up the bottle with about 1 inch of antibacterial liquid soap. {I buy the large bottles from Costco}

Step #2: Slowly fill the rest of the bottle with tap water, put lid back on, and gently tip upside down and back and forth to mix the soap and water together. Don't shake ~ it will get too sudsy.

And there you have it! I love that it is a diluted version of antibacterial soap, and is much gentler on my family's sensitive skin. I also love that one big bottle of antibacterial soap literally lasts us years... and years... and years!

How's that for frugal?!?

That's all from makingcentsofsavings- I hope this helps you stockpile some important household items for yourself. I've also found some recipes for other homemade cleaners on other sites, I haven't tried them yet, but if you would like those too, just leave a comment and let me know! I can post on it or email them to you to try out if you leave your email address :)