So frugally awesome - DIY Laundry Detergent

10/13 Update:  Thanks to everyone from Pinterest who are stopping by!  I've been using this as my detergent for the past year and still love it:)  I've experimented with other soaps and each time has worked out well, so feel free to change up the soap of your preference to get different results.  I'd love it if you would follow the blog and leave comments about your experience with home made detergent - it would be fun hearing how it works for other people:)  Also, if you have any other tips, mention them in the comments.  I know some others have been adding downy and/or laundry enhancers to theirs and I've enjoy hearing how that works!  See you around!


Back in October I experimented with making laundry detergent.  I wasn't sure about this whole thing.  But the thought that I could make a 3 or 4 gallon batch of detergent for less than $5 was baffling to me?  How much money would I save?!  A lot!  Considering that even on sale, 1 HALF gallon may cost $5.  Every once in a while it may be less.  But not all the time! Right now a little over a GALLON (150 ounces) of Tide at Shoprite is $16.99? 

So my BFF, Heather, & I made our first batches of the detergent.  Here is what you need, except I put the wrong box in this picture - the Arm & Hammer should be WASHING SODA - which looks a lot like baking soda...I grabbed the wrong box for this pic.  You need the washing soda, Borax, and Fels-Naptha.  Fels-Naptha is bar soap, a laundry bar soap and it smells lemony and lovely!  All these items can be found in the laundry aisle in any major store - I happen to get mine in Wal-mart (gasp!  I cheated on Target?!?!) and spend $3.89 on the three items.  Score!

 I bought a cheese grater just for this detergent.  I can't imagine sharing my regular one with soap.  That would not taste very good!  So you grate your soap down to ribbons...

Like so...

Then, you boil 4 cups of water on the stove top...once its rolling drop in your soap!

Boil and stir and boil and stir until all the soap is dissolved, it'll look all frothy:



Oh and don't walk away from it.  My BFF may or may not have done that the 2nd time around.  And it may or may not have been a disaster in her kitchen!  Heather, I hope you don't mind me sharing that, I feel it's important enough to warn;)  It totally could've happened to me because that is something I would do.

This will make your house smell so wonderful and clean, even if it isn't!!

Unfortunately this is where my photo's end.  I'll have to add more the next time I make it.

Next, you take a 5 gallon paint bucket (buy it at Home D or Lowes, buy the lid too - its only about $5 or less for the set) and I fill it a little over halfway with warm water, about 3 gallons.  I have to fill it in my bathtub because my sink isn't that deep.  Or I could fill it in the basement in my utility sink.  

Then dump in your dissolved soap mixture!  Stir it up nicely.  Then add 1 cup of washing soda and a 1/2 cup of the Borax.  Stir it well and then stick the top on and keep it in your laundry room.  Let it set for about 24 hours.  Stir it again.  Don't be alarmed by its....goopiness.  That is the official word!  It looks gross but it smells delightful.  It works awesome!  I get compliments on the way my clothes smell, and they are CLEAN!  This is crazy?!?! 

I feel so domestic.  I feel like I belong in Little Women or some movie like that!?  I am making my own laundry detergent!!  How did we get so dependant on main stream products to stop making things ourselves?  I have over 3 gallons of laundry soap that cost me hardly anything!  You spend less each time you make it, because really you only have to buy the soap every batch because the boxes of Washing Soda and Borax last that at least 4-5 batches!  It is really amazing, and feels great to be doing something so close to being natural, and frugal! 

One batch lasted us 2.5 months.  I made mine in early October and I had to make my next right before Christmas.  We do at LEAST 6 loads a week (seriously I am being modest when I say 6, it may be more like 8 or 9 a week) so that is 60+ loads.

We aren't so strapped for money that we can't afford laundry soap or anything, but it's the principal of the matter!  Why pay $10+ a MONTH for this stuff if I can make it myself!?  As a up and coming couponer and frugal lady - this is one of the things that makes me proud and happy!  I love saving money on everyday things!!

By the way, I have front loading machines, HE and all and this works great.  No worries, no spills, nothing.  It's awesome.  Use about 1 cup for a regular load.  You'll be hooked, I swear!

Under the kitchen sink...

Inspired, once again by A bowl full of lemons (I love the way Toni organizes and cleans!) I decided to tackle under our kitchen sink.  It was a DISASTER!  See:

Gross!!!  It's tough because I have to share most of the space right in the middle with that pipe - but this cabinet actually has a lot of space it in on the left and right side of the stupid pipe.  Anyways, see how we just toss the grocery bags in without a care?  The cleaning supplies are tossed in there after Ashley does her weekly chores - its just a mess.  Then we have a little drawer right above it that I throw random stuff in, and that needs to be delivered from chaos as well!

So I stopped my the dollar store on my way home from cutting the wood for the craft room desk at my parents (still working on that, big reveal hopefully this week) and picked up some organizing stuff:

 Two big baskets, $1 each, and two small baskets, $1 for the pair.  So $3 for this little project.  Plus we had some of this left, that I put on the bottom of the cabinet to help it look better:

Anyways, I cleaned and organized.  I threw away a lot of those grocery bags (who needs 100 of them?!) and save some to keep down in the basement for cleaning Frodo's litter box.  I must say I am proud of how much more organized we are now!  See:

 All cleaning supplies in one place, so we can actually take this basket with us to whichever room we are cleaning - so nice!

 I put all the bags in the other basket, I actually took more bags out after taking this pic, as well as added the red protector thing to the cabinet - it looks even better than this!

 The little heart baskets hold sponges in one and candles/batteries in the other.

 I love my little door organizer too - keeps me from keeping junk on top of the counter top & sink.  Now look!!!!   I have a whole little drawer that is EMPTY!!!  More space!!  Woooo!!  Our kitch is kinda little, so more space is always fun.  I have two smaller cabinets that need serious help with organizing...so I have big plans for filling this drawer. 

So that was part of my productive day.  I've done much more, and I'll tell you about that later!

Oh here are pics of the cab with the red stuff done at the bottom:

Sookie Stackhouse novels - your thoughts?

Dead until Dark...I give it a 3.5 overall.  It was good, I liked the flow of the book and the little tragedies and twists the author throws into the story!  It was very "adult", lots of adult talk and situations, some of it wasn't too bad, some was more than I wanted to read.  But overall, I didn't get too hung up on that stuff.  Dark vampire stuff!  Sookie Stackhouse is a good character, I like her a lot.  The book has some mystery in it that keeps you wanting to read it and see what happens.  Even as it ends, it leaves me wanting more.  I'll probably get the next book for February, I know there are a bunch in the series!

Read it and let me know what you think, or, if you've read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts too!  I think that if I hadn't read Twilight first, I'd probably like this one more - but alas....I'm a Twilight freak so that will always have my heart :)

I'm halfway through book 3 already!  I'm reading Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks, I've read all of his books and have a love/hate relationship with them!  On one hand, they are easy reads and always have me hooked, but they always always ALWAYS have tragic parts that make me want to die!  This one is good so far, is about a woman who has a past of domestic violence and is trying to make a new life in an NC town, and falls in love - I can sort of figure out whats going to happen with this one, but we'll see if I'm right about it!  I have to admit that besides cleaning and organizing our office/scrapbooking extra bedroom for an hour or so, all I've been doing today is reading:)  But, that's all I had on my agenda today, our room was REALLY messy so I feel like I did accomplish something today which makes me feel less guilty for reading the rest of the day!  Here....look at this change!!

 good gracious what a scary mess!

 now its all organized!

 everything has a place, that's my motto!

 floor is cleaned too:)

what was once a crazy mess is now organized again:) yay!!


Dave is up now though, and we have some running around to do so I'll have to stop reading for today.  I think I'm doing ok with my pace here - hopefully I can keep it up!!

have a great day everyone!  its supposed to snow tonight, I'm excited:)