Saturday, April 11, 2009

one more step to crunchy-ville

Thanks to my blog friend Rhonda, I had the inspiration to make my own laundry detergent. From scratch. I can hardly believe myself. I'm going crunchy here. Imagine how nice it'll be to have fewer plastic bottles in landfilbla bla bla I did it because it's so doggone cheap. On her blog, she said it's about 17 cents less per load than Tide, and I buy Gain, which is a good bit more expensive than Tide. Plus, I can make it smell like whatever I darn well please. Really, I'm only thinking about myself here.

It took about half an hour to make, and quite a bit of elbow grease to grate the laundry soap bar. And a little willpower, because the grated soap looked like cheddar and I really like cheddar. I think it might be many many months before I have to buy laundry detergent again, if this stuff doesn't suck. If it does suck, I'm out less than 10 bucks and a 5 gallons of water. Really, a fun experiment.

I'll let y'all know how it goes.

12 comments:

Katy said...

Wow. I may have to try that. I love the idea of making smell however I want!

Glad to hear some positive stuff about Adderall! I guess it does work for some people.

Laurie said...

Love her blog, Stace - thanks! Will have to try that for sure - right up my ally.

Rhonda said...

Cool Beans! I feel all famous now since you name dropped and linked to me. -bowing-

Yah it's good stuff. My friend has a family size of 7 and it lasted her 5 months. FIVE. MONTHS.

I use my bosch food processor to grate that sucker. Those bars are HARD. lol

p.s. If it sucks-it wasn't my idea. I got it from my cousin. If you love it...TOTALLY my idea! ;)

From the Doghouse said...

I am anxiously awaiting the results.

Jen said...

I bought a book Clean Planet, Clean House and it had this recipe for detergent in there but I have not tried it yet. I need to get that book back out because it is WAY cheaper to make your own!! :) Go wash up some clothes and let me know if it works well. I have wanted someone else to be a guinea pig ;) hehe

I just caught up on your posts. I'm glad the treatment plans are working for you and you are more clear now! That's awesome.

dhcoop said...

But, what is washing soda??

Laurie said...

Rhonda - I emailed the recipe to several of my "natural" friends, and one already uses it and LOVES it!

She also uses a homemade dishwasher powder - equal parts borax and washing soda (she keeps hers in a clean peanut butter jar by the dishwasher) 2-3 Tbs per load. Also uses Vinegar in the rinse aid slot, and dishes are spotless!

I believe you get washing soda near the laundry stuff at the grocery store? Probably where the borax would be?

I'm planning on trying your Agave necter jam this year, too - we have a bunch of wild blackberries at our place.

Kayra said...

I followed the link you posted in FB and looked at the ingredients. I'm allergic to any perfume on my clothes, and one of my twins has eczema. Any idea how this soap works for people with sensitive skin? Because I'd love to save me some $

Laurie said...

Kayra - Borrow some of Stacey's and see ;)! You can use bar soap that works for your family's skin, sounds like - seems like it would work better for you than something you buy at the store? And could just make unscented.

AM said...

I'm allergic to bar soap *tear* is there anything else, I wonder.hmmm....

watercolordaisy said...

Gain vs. Tide? When I had my house fire? The clothing restorer cleaning people told me to use Tide on the items I took to wear right afterwards. Said nothing was any better, just more expensive. It got the fire soots and oils out. Amazing. I'm a convert. No need to pay more.

Rhonda said...

hey guys, just so ya know I've had a few people I know that have sensitive skin use this laundry soap and say they did FINE with it. Your mileage may vary but fels naptha isn't your ordinary bar soap either. Give it a try!

And yes you find the washing soda (and fels naptha) in the laundry section. Some stores don't have it so you just have to look until ya find it. Food City carries it, so does Bashas I think. Fry's and walmart do not, at least not the two closest to me. ;)