Good afternoon everyone!
Any great plans for the weekend? This lady and her hubs are going on a double date tonight {AHH!} SoOoO our Saturday should be fun-filled!
Lately, I’ve been on a mission to figure out where we can cut back and save some pretty pennies in our monthly budget. Typically anything that is “DIY {Do it yourself}” saves money and as you all know I’m all about the “DIY-ing”. At a past holiday, I was chatting with my aunt about attempting to go more “natural” with foods, soaps and anything else I can do {especially since the hubs, the daughter and myself ALL have eczema :-/}. She mentioned she was given a recipe for a laundry detergent that costs $25 to make and lasts up to 9 months! {yes, 9 MONTHS!} Immediately I was doing the math in my head… if you break down the costs it’s as if you are only spending $2 a month for detergent with this recipe! I know my little family of three spends a lot more than $2 a month on detergent and I can’t even imagine what you mommy’s of four + more spend on detergent. {Can you imagine what “Kate + eight spends on detergent a month or even better…the oh so loved “Dugger family”. It makes me shed a couple tears for them. LOL} So let’s get started on saving all the moolah!
ITEMS NEEDED:
1 – 4lb 12oz box Borax
1 – 4lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
1 – Box Arm & Hammer Super Wash Soda
3 – Bars Fels-naptha Soap {you could use pink Zote or Ivory soap -not Ivory cleansing bar-}
2 – Small containers of Oxyclean {store brand fine}
Oh and a LARGE bucket! {I used a 5 gallon bucket to mix the ingredients.}
1}} Line your bucket with a trash bag. {I tied twine around the rim so when mixing the ingredients the bag wouldn’t fall in.}
2}} Shred your three bars of soap {like how you would grate cheese}.
3}} Combine all ingredients into the bucket and mix.
4}} Use 2 tablespoons per load & enjoy your fresh laundry!
{{I just washed my first load of laundry with this and it feels wonderful and smells! Keep in mind your laundry will smell fresh but does not have a strong smell like a store bought detergent will.}}
Enjoy! Now you got to think what you’re going to do with all that extra money you’ve saved with this! 
The Duggars do make their own detergent, the recipe is similar to this one. It’s one of their (many) money saving strategies. I couldn’t even imagine what their cost would be otherwise!
http://duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/homemade_liquid_laundry_soap_front_or_top_load_machine_best_value
How full is the bucket? Is there an alternative size that would be good? Looks like there’s a lot of room left in the bucket.
Do you know if this detergent will work in a newer energy efficient washing machine? I have to only buy the detergents with the “ge” on them :-/
Have you tried “Soap Nuts”? It’s probably the greenest thing you could possibly use. Here is the wiki link about the tree. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapindus
You just put 5 or so berries in a muslin bag and throw it in the washer. They can be reused several times too. I bought a 2.2 pound bag on eBay for about $25 and I have been using them for about 3 months; I’ve barely made a dent in the bag!
We now only use soap nuts with some vinegar, then wool dryer balls instead of icky waxy dryer sheets! We love it and it saves money and energy!