Hey there! I was curious if anyone out there makes their own laundry soap/cleaning supplies? I have been making my own laundry soap for some time and it works great and has saved me a TON of money! I started branching out and making my own cleaning supplies, chemical free which is great for the environment and my wallet! I am looking for a recipe for home made dishwashing detergent for the dish washer. I have not read any good reviews on the ones I have found on line. If you do anything that is frugal or environmental I would love to share ideas! Thanks!

* I'm a dork I know* :biggrin2:

This is a great thread idea! I have been wanting to make my own, but have been scared, because I love my Tide so much!

I make my own candles. They are SO cheap! Occasionally I'll splurge if I find a scent I really like, but making them is simple. I bought reusable grocery bags. They hold way more and don't break, and if you use them at certain stores, they give you 5 cents off for each bag you bring. I know it's not a lot, but eventually they'll pay for the cost of the bag (about .99).

I coupon and only shop sales. Which means I match up the sales to the coupons and get things ultra cheap. There's a website that does this for you (thegrocerygame.com), but I found I could do it on my own for free or with the help of couponmom.com which doesn't cost anything. I find I can buy about 100 worth of groceries for about 60 very consistently. The key is using the coupons on sales and planning your meals around that.

I also am part of a mailing list freecycle on yahoo groups, where I get rid of things I don't use anymore and take in things that others aren't using. This has been great for clothes.

I hope more people post what they do and other ideas! I'm SO into this it's crazy. I guess that makes me a dork too.

I love Freecycle. I just gave away about 10 bags of clothes my girls were not wearing anymore.

I also found my son's trombone on there.

Laurinda- what's your recipe for laundry soap?

I am gonna post that along with some others later this evening when I come home from work :cursing:

Besides being good for the environment and SOOO cheap the cleaning supplies I have been making are all natural so the strong chemical smell isn't in the house. I am the caregiver for both my mom and mother-n-law ( they both live with me) and both have breathing issues. I don't have to worry so much when I use these.

powder Laundry Soap

1 cup Borax powder

1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing powder ( NOT baking soda or detergent )

1/2 bar washing soap ( Fels Naptha, Octagon,Zote )

*Ivory soap can be used also but use whole bar

Shred bar soap, mix together with measured powder and store in a covered container.

Use 2 tablespoons per load.

(This is makes almost NO suds but works GREAT. If hubby has really grubbed up some clothes I add another tablespoon of Borax to the load)

This averages out to about a penny a load (really) The picture below is pretty much the set up I use but I have never tried that pure and natural bar soap.

liquid Laundry Soap

I am including a link to the web site I got my laundry soap recipe from.

I like this one because it has a pictorial and sometimes you just need that step by step slide show ( ok I do lol) I have made this a few times ( double and tripling the recipe) I really like it a lot but found the powder to be faster. Both work well and neither suds up.

Making Homemade Laundry Soap

Vinegar in the wash

I have used vinegar in the wash for many years. It is great to help remove strong nasty odors like mildew, pet odors and hubby's gross me out work clothes. After adding my soap and clothes I let the washer fill up and put a good cup ( I don't measure) in the wash cycle.

Vinegar in the rinse cycle is suppose to be a good replacement for fabric softener , I read a tip to fill your Downy ball with vinegar just as you would your regular fabric softener. That being said I have to tell you I have not had very good luck with the vinegar smell rinsing out at this stage of the wash load ( Per my 15 year old)

Oh goodness thank you all :smile2: I came across this because I searched "scared" because I AM getting scared about my surgery (one week!) and found this thread which just so happens to be one of my favorite topics :crying:

I'm really into chemical-free homemaking/cooking etc (so this whole pre op diet of fake Protein and sugar free Jello is bothersome on multiple levels) and I have a lot of fun with it. I make all of my other household cleansers except laundry soap.

For laundry soap I buy Nellie's and add some borax and a drop of tea tree oil (though I think I'm going to switch to something that smells nicer). I'm sure I could make my own--I think I'm just a sucker for cute packaging! I do my laundry by hand in my apartment (washboard and wringer and all) for a variety of reasons and as it's just me it's actually much more convenient than going to a laundromat, especially with all the stairs involved for me.

So anyway, thanks all for getting by brain back into the realm of "normal" and not "scared to death"....I just have to try to get this to last a week :confused_smile:

Awwww PennyLane we have all been "Scared to death" at this point your at now. Hang in there I PROMISE it gets better and is so worth it!

I too am very into the environment and things that are "green" I have washed my car in the rain for about as long as I can remember because it saves on Water and is a great rinse job!! lol I work hard at recycling and do it with great passion, it has become a way of life, a hobby, a way to focus my time and energy away from food. Now that my kids are almost grown I am feeling the pre-empty nest syndrome and keeping busy in a positive way has helped me so much!

My daughter is a vegetarian and I have always cooked geared towards her needs but have found since getting my band I have really gotten into and enjoy organic and meatless cooking. I have always had to struggle to find ways to get my daughter to eat enough Protein in her diet, now it's a breeze lol. At first friends and family considered me "odd" in some of the things I have cooked up but I have to tell ya (laughing) I get more request for my tofu chocolate pie then I EVER had for any other pie I have made!

PLEASE share any ideas you have of things you do! It's always great to learn something new. I will be posting some of my "weird" food recipes in the food section soon.

:tongue_smilie: It is nice to get my mind off my anxiety.

I pretty much just do little things, make small choices day-to-day that I think add up to a decently "green" lifestyle. Just things like bringing my own bags to the store, walking instead of driving (I live in a very walk-able large town/small city), buying things in reusable containers (milk in glass jars for example), or with the least amount of packaging, using cloth instead of sponges or disposable wipes etc.

My BIG project for this summer, which is part of my effort to be more environmentally friendly but also a large part of my effort to eat much more healthily, is to try to keep the foods that I eat 75% locally grown or raised. Environmentally the issue is that each ingredient in the average American meal has traveled 1500 miles to get to the plate, which creates a huge carbon footprint especially in winter when more and more fresh produce is flown or shipped up from South America. I aim (I'm not there yet) to buy most things that I need from within 125 miles of my house (125 because that's the limit that my farmers market sets and it's just easier, but "officially" it's known as the 100 Mile Diet). I can't rely on the farmers market alone and it's taken quite a bit of research to try and find certain food items but I've managed to find a source for most things.

I set the goal at 75% because I want to leave a margin of error for "cheating" and also some things are too good or too healthy to be excluded just to make a point (olive oil is one that comes to mind immediately, as do avocados). I have learned how to freeze fresh fruits and vegetables so I buy more when they're in season so I'll have enough for winter, I even bought a mini-deep freeze for my apartment! I am quite literally right now in the process of learning how to can tomatoes. I think the tomatoes are winning. I shed some tears over the jars tipping over in the canner.....we'll just see how this turns out.

Also, it makes your local farmland profitable as farmland which is good because then it is less likely to be bought up by some real estate developer and turned into another big box store stripmall.

Health-wise I think it will be great because I now have small portions of a huge variety of vegetables already measured, cut and waiting to be warmed up. Also, doing this kind of thing kind of forces you to eat only fresh, non-processed food which is almost automatically healthier than the alternatives.

It's a big project and it's been tough but fun and satisfying. I think the main reason it's really been working for me though is that I ONLY have to worry about myself--I don't have a family to take care of, don't have to preserve food for 5 people etc. If you're interested, searching for 100 mile diet, slow foods, eat local or "locavore" will yield a ton of results :tt1:

-Penny

PennyLane- I kept telling myself, even as they wheeled me to the surgery room, I can cancel- I can call this whole thing off! They gave me the anesthesia and as I was drifting away to sleep I was saying the same thing... When I woke up I realized it was such a breeze and five months and 60 pounds later, I am SO glad I didn't!

The 100 mile diet is quite a feat! My husband and I tried it, going to farmer's markets and buying at local stands. We live in an apartment too, and I really want a garden. It would save money and be so much healthier. So, we've started container gardening... suggested by my mom. I've never had a green thumb. I tried two things to get started. I killed the tomatoes and the green onions are growing, they're just taking a longer time than stated on the package. They just sit out on the balcony.

I did can some butter a few weeks ago. I'm also into making sure we have food just in case of emergencies, food supply. When we lived in Florida, my food supply is what got my hubby and I through as the stores were empty and after there was an all day curfew. We were eating quite well! So I canned butter on my own and go to a cannery to can sugar, flour, oats, etc... then I rotate those into our daily use.

Blackle - Energy Saving Search

I know longer use Google I use blackle :thumbup: Very cool, check it out

PennyLane WOW I am very impressed and would like to chat more with you about your Projects! ( I am short on time tonight) I WILL check out Google Or Blackle lol about the 100 mile diet! It sounds very cool and something I would be interested in. I too have gone to shopping at farmers markets as much as possible, and well I have not taken up canning I so want to. I do freeze a lot.

MrsFlipFlops you have done it too!?! Very cool. I am looking into making soy candles but have yet to find the time. You said you have made your own candles. Any tips or web sites I should check out? Have you been making them long?

I am so into all this stuff and want to post the cleaning supplies I make but again it's a time thang. I find sometimes I have to defend my way of thinking and the things I choose to do. You would think in a world that has gone "green" I would not even stand out! lol but what are you going to do?

I have posted a few Tofu recipes on the food link, another thing that I enjoy working with.

Antiseptic Spray

10 drops essential oil

1 cup Water

Put in spray bottle and enjoy!

I use this in my bathroom when I clean and it can be used as a room/air freshener.

I like Lavender but you can play with it and find the one you like. If you Google uses of essential oils it's amazing the things you will discover!

My husband bought me a candle making kit for our anniversary. It basically came with the wicks, scents, and some wax to get you started. I bought more wax from a hobby store, and use random containers. I love it. It's so inexpensive. I do lots of candles all at once (because it's def. a long project). Since you have to wait till they cool, then pour again, the cool, then pour again. It's not hard, just kind of like laundry where you're getting up once an hour to move something. I recommend buying a starter kit, it will come with the double boiler, a thermometer and all the other things you'll replenish. Mine was about $15 then I spent 14 on the wax (for 15 pounds). 30 bucks and I've made candle after candle, a total deal.

My whole thing about going green is finding ways to keep the things I love (candles, etc) while still being efficient and earth friendly. I get teased at grocery stores with my bags... unless I go to Whole Foods or local markets. But I don't care! :-)