Homemade

If you've known me for even one minute, you know that I'm no Martha Stewart. I hate cleaning. I don't get a big charge out of organizing my belongings. I don't do crafts, and I hate to cook. Baking is even worse. Sewing's not my thing. Just ask my mom about the time she tried to teach me to hem my own jeans.

Its kind of ironic that I'm a stay at home mom. Some call me a homemaker, but I actually cringe at the idea of "making my home". Sigh.

But, I do like to save money. A lot. A few years ago God even told me that since He has pulled me out of the workforce and put me in charge of my children's education, my job, if you will, is to save money for our family. I also love to do things the "natural" way. Still, when I came across this blog post about making homemade laundry detergent I laughed it off at first. But as I read on about how much money making this detergent saves Rebekah and her family, I decided to give it a try.

Much, much to my surprise, I loved it. And I still do!

Here's the recipe, if you're interested.

12 cups Borax (from the laundry aisle at Wal-Mart)

8 cups baking soda (also from the laundry aisle at Wal-Mart)

8 cups washing soda (from the laundry aisle at Kroger)

8 cups bar soap- approximately 7-8 bars (I use Ivory)

Mix everything together. Use 1/8 cup for normal-large loads.

These ingredients cost around ten or eleven dollars, and make a ton of detergent. I made my first full batch last March and didn't run out until July. Now I make a half-batch. Believe me, its plenty!

The first time I made the detergent I noticed that if I didn't use hot water the grated soap wouldn't always get dissolved. Someone on Rebeka's blog suggested to chop it all up in a food processor after everything was mixed. I felt kind of funny about putting laundry detergent in my blender, so I found a used one at Goodwill for two dollars. Now I have my own detergent chopper that's not used for our food. This is the most time consuming part for me, but I like it because it turns the detergent into a fine powder and I don't have to worry about soap flakes getting on our clothes.

Like I said, I've been making this detergent for a year now. I think it even works better than the store-bought stuff. It removes all of the boys' stains and it doesn't cause the fabric to stretch or fade. I did find that I missed my laundry having a "scent". So I started adding a few drops of essential oil to the water before I throw my dirty laundry in. I love to mix lavender and tangerine together. Bergamot is another favorite of mine. I must admit that I get a warm, fuzzy feeling when I breathe in the scent of a warm load of clean laundry. I kind of feel like Laura from "Little House on the Prairie". But please don't spread that around!

After I had been using my own detergent for a few months, I began to wonder what else I could get away with making. I googled homemade dish washer detergent and found this recipe:

1 tablespoon Borax

1 tablespoon baking soda

use in dish washer

How simple is that? And, as with the laundry detergent, I really think it works as good... if not better than the kind I bought at the store. For a fraction of the cost. I've been toying with the idea of trying out a recipe for plain liquid dish detergent for the sink. I'll keep you posted when I try it.

Now, I realize that this is not the norm. And I've taken some flak for doing it. But I beg you... don't knock it 'til you've tried it!