2.26.2009

Being Industrious

I once had a friend who paid people to do everything. Maybe not exactly everything, but so it seemed. She came by it honestly, she was raised that way- in a home with a housekeeper and a pool guy and the yard people and so forth. I reckon when you grow up paying people to do things, that's what you do. Not that there is anything wrong with that.


But I remember her saying often, "I'd rather just pay someone and save the time."


And I remember thinking, 'I would rather do it myself and save the money.'


But to each their own, eh? Besides, some have more of one than the other, and vice versa.

Guess what thrifty little somesin'-somesin' I've been doing myself?


Making laundry detergent!


And it costs about half of what I would pay for already made laundry detergent, works just as well, uses only 1 tablespoon per load.... and makes my house smell fresh and clean on laundry detergent making day!



Here is how to do it.


You only need these three things.



First you need to grate the cheese.



I mean, the Fels Naptha soap.





(and then I gave it a whirl in the food processor that Gary bought me two Christmas' ago that I thought I broke after using twice but I couldn't bare throwing it away so I stored it and decided to give it one more chance when making the laundry detergent and lo and behold, it works! Do you realize all the times I could have used it?!?!)


Then you mix the soap with 1 cup Washing Soda and 1/2 cup Borax and voila! You've made laundry detergent!


Now as you can imagine, that's only two cups worth of detergent, and that can be quite startling if you are like me and usually have a large bucket of detergent. But remember, it takes only 1 tablespoon per load- 2 if it's a heavy load. It is worth it to double and triple or even quadruple or octrupal the recipe.


Is octrupal a word?


Anyways.


There is even a recipe for liquid detergent at the same place I got this recipe from.


Find her here.


Alright, does anyone have a recipe for shoe shine to share? Or Mop & Glow? SOS Pads?
Cause I am in the mood!

14 comments:

sara said...

I'm in awe and totally inspired. I had no clue you can make this stuff. Where do you buy the soaps? I've never seen that stuff before.

I am LoW said...

Me neither! Until recently, SO cool. I got all three of these at Kroger. I know Kroger isn't everywhere though, but Borax should be easy to find and the recipe did say you could use Ivory, Sunlight, Kirks or Zote's.

dar said...

hmmmm... what section of the store do you find the cheese stuff

Mel said...

Yes. Do you think they have this stuff at Target? So cool! What do you store it in? Does it bleach out colors or anything like that?

Laura Lynn said...

Cool! Can you use it on Front Loaders I wonder??
Not to change the subject, but I am, sorry! - Do you know Weilenmanns or the Days from Hilton Head Branch?

The Crash Test Dummy said...

OMGOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You thrifty little thing.

I am seriously going to try this!


MAHALO, Chica!

I'll send you a shave ice for that tip. (I like to pay people for what they do for me. hee hee).

I am LoW said...

Dar- the cheese stuff is on the laundry aisle.

Mel- I would expect so.

Laura- It says the liquid detergent can be used in the front loader. I haven't tried that recipes though.

I do know the Days. :) They are in California now, last I heard, as a several months ago. The Weilenmanns does not ring a bell. But I'll be listening out for that name. I do know several from that branch. So many fun people live there!! The Langford's, Putich (sp?), Nickerls but they are new), Maurers,.... that's all I can think of. :)

I am LoW said...

Crash- I'll take it!! I am not even going to say, "Oh no, don't worry about it." I want the shaved ice!!! hehe

Laura Lynn said...

Thanks, maybe I'll try this!

Oh we love the Putich family! They are really fun and are some of our best friends there. Mauers are great too. I heard the Days moved which is sad for my daughters when we go visit SC again.

I am LoW said...

I know the Putich children, so I know who there parents are, but don't really know them, know them. Know what I mean? :-) And last year at girl's camp Sis Maurer was my roomie. They Days were in our ward for a whole month before they went to CA. Our YW were SO excited for someone new and was so sad they moved on.

elesa said...

ooh, that is so cool! Hmm. Maybe I will try....

aniC said...

do you have a recipe for dryer sheets? that'd be really helpful!

Sharalyn said...

Fabric Softener "Sponges"

1 Container of Name Brand Fabric Softener
4 Inexpensive sponges, cut in half

Pour entire container of softener into a 5 gallon bucket. Fill empty softener container with water twice. (2 parts water to 1 part softener) Add sponges to softener/water mixture. When ready to use wring out extra mixture from one sponge and add to the dryer as you would a dryer sheet.

I am LoW said...

Ah, thanks for that!! I've heard you can make dryer sheets from sponges, but hadn't tried it. Awesome, now I must. :)