Today, as I was doing the "mountain of laundry" I ran out of fabric softener and then realized I only have about two loads worth of laundry soap. So, being the "frugalnoid" that I want to be, I decided "well, I guess it is time to try my hand at making my own laundry soap".
I don't know about you, but I can't stand buying laundry soap. I know I need it, but when I turn down the laundry soap aisle I start to get nervous, almost like an anxiety attack. I know what is coming, overpriced smell good soap, and did I mention overpriced??? I can't stand paying the amount that some of these soaps are priced at. Don't get me wrong I do love the smell of my clothes after I use a certain soap that is in an orange bottle with blue letters and rhymes with "ride". My husband blessed me with an HE (high-efficiency) washer about a year ago, and I love it. However, it requires you to use an HE laundry soap, which means I am suppose to buy the expensive stuff.
SO NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, anymore ;)
Tonight I went back to Fred Meyer's (I know I was just there yesterday, and wasted more gas, and caused more pollution) and bought the items I needed for homemade laundry soap.
The items I needed were:
Fels-Naptha bar soap $1.49
Arm & Hammer Washing Soda $2.99
Borax $4.59
5 gallon bucket w/lid $3.72 (I had to pay $1.38 for the lid!!!)
TOTAL:
$12.79
I think that is great, compared to my favorite orange bottle with blue letters and rhymes with "ride". You may look at that and think "wow, that isn't really saving money". Oh but it is!!! I did not have these items around my house so I had to do a one-time purchase, until I need to buy more Borax and Washing Soda. The Borax is 4lbs and all I need is half a cup and the washing soda is 3.7 pounds and all I need from that is one cup. In all, the next time I need to make laundry soap all I will need is the $1.49 bar soap. Also, the laundry soap makes about five gallons and for my washer all I need is 1/3 cup for each load. To me that is a steal!!! Although, one thing I do plan on doing is cleaning out my orange bottle with blue letters and rhymes with "ride" and putting my new laundry soap in it. It will then be easier to pour and easily accessible.
Tomorrow I will post the directions for the laundry soap. There are so many variations to laundry soap, you could google "homemade laundry soap" and come up with some many recipes. I know there is also a powder form out there also. Okay, I am off to make my soap =)
What about you? Do you use homemade laundry soap? If so, do you use essential oils, and what fragrance?
For more money saving ideas head on over to LifeAsMom.
This is something I have been wanting to try. Would love to have you come link up for Thrifty Thursday too.
ReplyDeleteI was a homemade laundry soap convert this past summer (2009) and I loved the $ that it saved! But, I have since gone back to using the stuff in the orange bottle that rhymes with "ride." I was using the right "recipe" and proportions and everything for the homemade stuff, but our towels and washclothes, and DH's (sweaty, work) clothes were getting more and more dingy and stale/musky smelling as time went on. Within a couple washings with "ride," the dingy-grayness that had been in several washclothes for MONTHS was gone and things don't smell stale and yucky anymore. I know several people that use it and it works great, they've never had any of the problems I did, so it could very well be a "different strokes for different folks" thing. I personally wonder if it just didn't "work" with our body-oils/residue. Who knows :) So far I've only bought it when it's on a good sale, and even stocked up last fall when CVS had a nice ECB deal! I wish you all the best of luck! It is a HUGE $$ saver to make your own!!
ReplyDeleteI have wanted to make my own detergent for a while, but I cannot find all of the ingredients around here. I would have to order them and it would cost me too much in shipping. I just keep hoping!
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