DYI Laundry detergent via How Does She

I love Pinterest. I have learned so much! There are so many talented people with such bright ideas!

I read so much about DYI cleaning products that I tried them. I love most of them but some not so much. We have hard water and the ingredients have to be just right to work with our water. I am now trying a third recipe for laundry detergent.
I came across this DYI Laundry Detergent recipe on a great blog called How Does She?
Isn't it pretty? Smells great too.
 

Photo by How Does She?

Since I do not have the photography gene, the pictures are from her blog.

Take a look at her blog, paying particular attention on how she refers to the grated soap as cheese. Funny girl.



Grated Zote Laundry Soap

I am thinking perhaps I should have told my husband that the grated stuff in the Tupperware bowl was soap and not cheese. It was dark in the breakfast area and bless his heart he thought it was cheese that had been sitting out all day. Needless to say he figured it out after taking a big ol' bite of the taco he had just made!

So, lesson one: Make sure hubby knows I am grating SOAP.

Anywho, after making the detergent, I show it to my husband and told him that it only takes 2 teaspoons to clean the clothes. He refused to believe it, so we tested it out. Sure 'nough, his socks were white without using bleach. I love it. This will be my detergent for life.

I would suggest you give it a shot. The total cost for me to make this was $24.00. A HUGE savings from buying my regular brand.

The following recipe and photos are to her credit, not mine.

Ingredients

 

 

 

RECIPE

 One again by How Does She?

1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax- Found in the detergent aisle

1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda- Found in the detergent aisle

1 (3 lb) Container of OxyClean- Found in the detergent aisle. (This is optional but I highly recommend adding it)

2 (14.1 oz) Bars of Zote Soap- Found in the detergent aisle (we chose to do pink for the scent but the white would be just fine. You can also use Fels Naptha)

2 (2 lb) Boxes of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda- Found in the cooking aisle (You could also get 1 4 lb box, we just couldn’t find it when we went)

1-2 (55 oz) Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener- Found in the detergent aisle (This is 100% optional. Like I said, my laundry detergent must smell good and I really like soft towels)

Grate soap using the small side of the grater or grating blade.
In a large container layer all ingredients. Mix it up well!

Other than making the smaller sized grates of soap, layering ingredients, and stiring up the mix, the most important this is that it only takes 2 teaspoons of the stuff in your washer.

Sharing

Friday, April 13, 2012

It's my first time. Spring seems a good time for a new start, so here we go.

I have NO idea what I am doing. None. I just wanted to share.

There are three kinds of people in the world when it comes to sharing:

1. Those that keep everything to themselves,
2. Those that tell everything they know, and
3. Those that know when to keep things to themselves and when to share. 

When it comes to certain information, I am NOT number 1 or 3. I love to tell. I love a good bargain and love to tell you ALL about that bargain. I enjoy cooking and want to share with you the latest greatest recipe I found. I will tell you about my faith. I will tell you about my husband and my kids. I tell. Tell, tell, tell. Although I prefer to call it "sharing", you know, passing on vital information. My stories are never short and sweet and to the point. They are drawn out, with plenty of witty antidotes, arm (or full body) gestures and lots of facial expressions. Every once in a while there may be an attempted accent thrown in the mix! I get that from my Daddy, or as we Southerner's might say, I come by it honestly.

For my future I envision myself as one of those old people that loves to talk but everyone has already heard the story a bazillion times and knows it better than me. Yep, that's me.

So I decided that my audience here in my little corner of Texas is just not quite big enough. I want to share with the world! Everyone should have the opportunity to save a few cents or know the best pot roast recipe I have ever found. Not to say it's the best, but the best I know about.

I am a country girl, transplanted into the burbs of the city. I love my country ways and have instilled a lot of them on a pour unsuspecting teenage girl who has taken after my family and is raising show pigs. She loves her jeans and boots and her animals. She understands her animals are not her pets, but her "business."  I am so proud of her. Not many kids these days will get up at 5 a.m., never once complaining about the hour, but anxious to get the job done and get back home to get ready for school and catch the bus.

Her hard work paid off this year when one of her pigs won Breed Champion. I was the loud Proud Show Mom in the bleachers.