Monday, September 24, 2012

Homemade Laundry Powder

One of the beauties (and frustrations) of being a wife of a medical student is being broke!  Granted, I am never against having an excess of money, but I will say that living on student loans has taught me to be frugal.  VERY FRUGAL.  And for that, I am very thankful.

Also, what fun is being a newly wed if you can't yell at one another for using too much expensive toilet paper?

I have a small list of core household items that I deeply believe no one should have to buy cheap....

The expensive necessities:

Toothpaste (AIM makes me feel like I'm brushing my teeth with cardboard!)
Toilet paper  (This is self explanatory.. so I'll spare you the details.)
Fresh/healthy foods (because I believe the food we take in allows us to live longer and BETTER lives!)  I also just really like good food, and this gives me an excuse to shop in the organic section at Kroger.

... let's not forget the most important expensive necessity of ALL....

Coffee!!!

With that said, I skimp in LOTS of other areas.  Such as re-purposing left overs, remembering to freeze food, using coupons (not the crazy way), buying generic, and making my own laundry detergent!

The laundry detergent was a hard switch for me at first.  I LOVE the smell of Gain, and for a while... the smell alone was worth the $12.  Gain reminds me of my Pop's old house.  He used to have a laundry shoot in the upstairs hallway that dropped to the downstairs laundry room, and though he may not know this, as kids we would monkey ourselves up and down the shoot while dodging laundry missiles being thrown from above... all with the lovely scent of Gain in the background.

These days, my allergies and "pocket book"  (as Bri would say)  :)  can no longer handle the wonderful fragrance of Gain Original Scent.  So, I've moved on to the cheap and fragrance free stuff!  (but I still have the great memories)

Homemade laundry powder takes a little extra time to get together, but it last FOREVER!  It works great, it is hypoallergenic, and most importantly.... It is CHEAP!

Here's what you'll need:




First, Shred the entire bar of Fels-Naptha soap in a large bowl.  (I use a microplane for this)




Transfer the shredded soap into the storage container that will house your new cheap and amazing laundry soap.  :)  Add in 2 cups of Borax, 2 cups of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, and 1/2 a cup of Arm & Hammer.  (I would suggest a full cup of the regular Arm & Hammer if you have stinky men, anatomy lab students, or well water)


Next, shake it all up!  


You will only need about 1/2 of a tablespoon for small loads, 3/4th for medium loads, and 1 tablespoon for large loads, or really soiled clothing. 

Cost breakdown:

Borax - $3.27
Arm & Hammer Washing Soda - $2.73
Arm & Hammer $2.50
Fels Naptha - $0.97

You will easily be able to get at least 2-3 uses out of each box of Arm and Hammer and your box of Borax... which will make your grand total per batch around $3.80!  For J and me, each batch lasts about 2 months, and J is a huge believer in multiple wardrobe changes a day! 

That makes lots of pocket book room for my coffee habit.  ;)

Hope you Enjoy!  Let me know if you try it out!

-Cap

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