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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Crazy or Frugal...I'll let you decide




Crazy or frugal? Well that depends on who you talk to, it depends on where you are at in life with your budget, or maybe even if your family struggles with allergies. If you walk into any grocery store or a store like target you will fnd rows upon rows of laundry detergent. With all these options why would I want to make my own? One because I want to control as much as possible what is on, in, and around my family. Two because my husband and kids all struggle with allergies, mostly environmental. If I can decrease some of that by making my own...awesome. I am also trying to live as frugally as possible. Lastly, I think it's just plain cool! I can make batch after batch from these three ingredients that will last us a long time (I haven't done the math yet but when I do I'll let you know!) Thus it's cheaper, it's healthier for our family, and it's plain ole fun! In case you ever get the urg to make your own, here's the recipe. :)

Homemade soap:
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax
1/3 cup Dr. Bronner's unscented liquid castile soap
1. In a large pot, heat (not boil) 6 cups of water. Add the
castile soap, washing soda, and borax. Stir until powder is
dissolved, then remove from heat.
2.In a 2 gallon pail, pour 1 quart of hot water and add the
heated soap mixture. Top pail with cold water and stir well.
use 1/2 cup per load; stirring before each use (will gel)

My cousin is a genious who happens to live in an apt. like I do and needs to conserve space. She adds the amount listed for the ingedients but adds only half the water. She then uses 1/4 cup per load instead of 1/2 cup it lists! This way I only need to store a gallon, not two gallons.

Happy soap making!

2 comments:

  1. My vote is definitely for frugal, not crazy! I love making homemade detergent! It is amazing how effective it is, not to mention CHEAP! ;) I've also made this with grated bar soap, if you don't happen to have liquid castille, and it still works great!

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  2. Jill, Thank you for the tip on grated bar soap. What kind of bar soap do you prefer to use?

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