It All Comes Out in the Wash (Detergent Update!)

The blog post I get the most questions about in real life, hands down, is the question about my homemade laundry detergent.  Do you remember that?  Let me refresh your memory (a.k.a. click here. It'll take you to the original post).  I thought I would talk a little bit about it in case you were curious!

I made my laundry detergent back in JUNE.  I just ran out last month.  That's SIX MONTHS of not buying laundry detergent.  Absolutely reedonkulous.  It was time to make some more, so I thought I would do a little tweaking to the original recipe. 

I'll start by saying that Marty didn't love the homemade detergent.  Almost from the moment I made it, he turned his nose up.  I guess because it's not a trusted brand or well-renowned for it's cleaning ability...I don't know.  Whatever the reason, he wasn't really wanting to give the 1950s detergent a chance at all ( but that didn't stop me from using it *cheesy grin*).  I figured out later that Marty likes really fresh clothes that have a distinct "just washed" smell.  That's probably one of the few negatives about this detergent.  It doesn't have much of a smell--which doesn't bother me.  I don't have to walk around every day smelling like a fabric softener sheet, but apparently my husband does, so I wanted to fix that with this round of detergent.

Recap:  here's the "recipe" to make your own homemade laundry detergent:

1 box (76 oz) 20 Mule Team Borax

1 box (55 oz) Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

3 bars of soap**

**In my original round of making detergent, I used plain, ole Ivory soap.  This time, I went for the actual laundry soap...Fels Naptha (you can also pick up Zote--another laundry soap brand).  Heads up, if you go this route?  This stuff is strooooong scented.  Like make your house smell like this soap for THREE DAYS STRAIGHT strong.  

So, let's make the detergent.  Dump the Borax and Washing Soda into your chosen container.  I've been using a cute red beverage tub I found on clearance at Target.  

Then, grate all three bars of soap into the mix with a cheese grater.  Looks just like grated cheese.  A little weird.

Now, one more change from the original batch I made.  To make the detergent and the laundry smell cleaner, I added a bottle of Purex Crystals.  

I picked the Fresh Spring Waters scent, just because I didn't think the hubs would appreciate the Lavender smelling clothing.   

So far, I like this version detergent better.  It smells clean and I think the Purex Crystals add to the cleaning power.  And....hubs hasn't complained.  Score. 

Last time, I compared my savings in making my own detergent vs buying a bottle of Tide or other brand name.  Since I added the Purex Crystals and spent a little more on the Fels Naptha, I would say I spent around $13 on this batch.  Since there are more ingredients, there's more detergent to go around (175. oz worth)  Here's the math: 

Cost of detergent/amount of detergent (tbsp)=Cost per load of laundry

There are 175.5 oz in this batch.  1 oz=2 tbsp.  So, 351 tbsp. of laundry.

$13/351 tbsp= 4 cents a load

I use 2 tbsp in each load of laundry, so it costs me 8 cents a load.

Yep.  Totally still worth it. 

What kind of products do you make yourself and save money?  Share!! 

Closet Nightmares No Longer

Tonight, I declared war on my closet. 
I'm tired of being depressed every single time I pick out an outfit to wear in the mornings.  I'm tired of wishing I had different clothes that make me feel good about myself.  I'm tired of having to use brute force anytime I want to put laundry away because my hangers are jam packed full of clothes--probably over half of which I never even wear.  No, I'm not at my goal weight or size.  But does that mean I shouldn't get to wear clothes that I feel amazing in?  Why should every morning because a struggle between "That doesn't fit anymore" and "I still feel kind of pregnant in that."??  Too many times, I've fought my closet, and it won.  Tonight, I'd had enough.  I tossed and purged and weeded and threw.  And this was the result:

Helping Hand and/or Goodwill is going to be getting a visit from me tomorrow.  It was more than a little ridiculous how many clothes I had that were rarely worn.  Some probably never saw the light of day after I added them to my closet.  I'm a sucker for sales and clearance racks.  If I see a shirt that's even halfway presentable, I'll talk myself into buying it.  You know the dialog: "If I put this shirt with just the right pair of shoes, it'll look really cute." or "If I find a tan cardigan to wear with this dress, it'll hide the sleeves and it'll be adorable."  Problem was, I never had the right pair of shoes or found a tan cardigan.  So those pieces lived in my closet, never to come back out.  Ridiculous.

The second pile is clothes that make me feel terrible about myself right now.  The ones that I remember wearing in my skinner lifetime and want to be able to wear again and cannot bring myself to throw away.  The ones that were torturing me.  I may never be able to wear them again, and that's okay.  I'm just not ready to part with them just yet.

The third pile, I'm a little embarrassed about.  Okay, really embarrassed about.  I'm guilty of keeping (and still wearing) a lot of my maternity tops in my closet.  When I lost a lot of weight when I was still nursing Avery, I put a lot of my maternity clothes away for my next pregnancy.  For some reason or another, I still held onto a choice few of my shirts that I really liked or thought I could pull of as looking non-maternity.  Truth is, I couldn't.  Truth is, I was probably hanging onto them as a type of security blanket to slip back into in case I ever had a "fat day."  No more of that.  They're safe and sound in a tote with the rest of my maternity clothes.

 

There's nothing like a good-old closet purge.  I highly recommend one.  Now, I'm going to (very slowly) build it back up with clothes of quality that I feel really good about.  Great pieces that make me feel just as great.  Tonight, I fought the closet.....and I won. 

Laun-dream-y rooms

When you think of your dream home, which room do you drool over?  A kitchen with top of the line appliances and enough counter space to prep your family's dinner?  A living room with square footage large enough for you to arrange and re-arrange your jaw-dropping furniture?  A home office with built in bookshelves and a bay window?  Those are all well and good, but I dream of something a little bit different.  When I think of my dream home, I focus on one room.......the laundry.  I can't really explain it.  I don't particularly enjoy doing laundry or want to spend an excessive amount of time in the laundry room, but I can't help but drool over pictures of shelves for baskets, counter tops for folding clothes fresh out of the dryer.  I sigh over pictures of adorable laundry rooms that combine design and function.  In fact, my Dream Home Pinterest board is filled with pictures of laundry rooms and organizing solutions.  Let me just share a few of my drool-worthy photos with you:



Every family member has their own basket to put away

I want a sink in my laundry room. Bad.



Love the red and gray...and that island!!

Organized AND spacious??  When can I move in??

Is there anything I can say about this that you're not already thinking.....???

Geez.  If I get nothing else I want when (if??) Marty and I ever build, I want a spacious laundry room.  I don't think it's too much to ask, right? 
More along the lines of my current (penny pinching) budget, I've currently got my eye on a clothes line.  Eventually, when Marty and I figure out where we're going to be for a few years (it's kind of up in the air at the moment), I want an outdoor clothing line.  Saves money by not running the dryer constantly and gives your clothes and sheets a fresh air clean smell. *mmmmmm* 

Until we figure out a more permanent solution, I have my eye on these:

Indoor Retractable clothesline by Home Depot

Genius

The...$5!....clothesline.  We may have a winner.

I'll leave you guys to dream of your fabulous kitchens and living rooms.  Meanwhile, I'll have visions of clotheslines and ridiculously large laundry rooms dancing in my head.