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Friday, July 30, 2010

Homemade Cleaners

So, a few months ago, I started making my own laundry soap. Yeah, I know it's supposed to be better for the environment, but I did it to save money! It costs less than $1 to make 2 gallons of this laundry soap. What would 2 gallons of Gain cost you? Anyways, I've also started making some other household cleaners too, and I thought I'd share the recipes!



Homemade Laundry Soap

1/3 bar Zote or Fels Naptha Laundry Soap
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax powder
Grate the soap into a sauce pan.
Add 6 cups of water and heat until the soap melts.
Add the washing soda and borax.
Stir until dissolved. It will start to thicken.

Get at least a 2 gallon bucket, and pour in 4 cups hot water. Add the soap mixture and stir. Then add 1 gallon plus 6 more cups of water and stir again. Let soap sit for 24 hours. It will gel.

If you want the soap to have a scent, add a capful or two of essential oils. I have used Lavendar and Fresh Rain.
I'm not sure where my final product picture disappeared to, but I just pour my soap mixture into 2-1 gallon empty milk jugs. Works great! Just make sure that you shake well before use because it will gel again!

***Want to make your own fabric softener? Just replace it with vinegar! Works the same, and no your clothes will not smell like a pickle.***

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Homemade Dishwashing Detergent

1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Borax

Just mix 1 cup washing soda with 1 cup borax and use 2 tablespoons for each load.
I mixed mine in an empty Gatorade tin. It has a handy dandy scooper inside. (Good for the environment, and I'm recycling too, yay me!)

***Remember the vinegar hint above? Use vinegar in place of rinse aid in your dishwasher! I think it works better!***

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All Purpose Cleaner

1 tsp. borax
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vinegar
1/4 tsp. dish soap
2 cups hot water

 
Mix all ingredients together and put in a spray bottle!
 
I bought this pack at Dollar General. 2 recipes of this cleaner will fit in 1 bottle. I will be filling those other bottles with other cleaners such as Homemade Windex and Homemade Febreze, as soon as I run out of the real stuff!
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Last, but not least, here's how I clean the toilets!
Homemade Toilet Bowl Cleaner
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup baking soda
Remember those 3rd Grade Science project volcanoes? This is the same principal. Pour in baking soda, pour vinegar on top, let foam for 10 minutes, then scrub. I put my vinegar in a half gallon milk jug and my baking soda is in a Lay's potato chip tube. Works great!


10 comments:

  1. Very nice, Steph! How does the detergent work on the clothes, are you happy with it?

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  2. Well, look at your, Mrs. Thrifty Thang!

    I've thought about making my own laundry soap, but I was worried that it wouldn't work with the HE washers. Have you had any problems?

    I definitely need to try the dishwasher detergent. We have such hard water, we have been buying that super-expensive Cascade Complete, just to get our dishes clean.

    Thanks for the information!!

    Love ya!

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  3. I think the detergent works just as well as the stuff you buy in the store. It gets our stinky farm clothes clean! The only difference is that you don't have the loud fruity/fru fru smell, but if you like having your clothes smell, you could always still use store bought fabric softener. It also works well in the HE washers because it is a very low sudsing soap. So if you use this recipe and think, where's all the soap bubbles, there's not gonna be much! I read that even when you use store bought detergent, that if it suds a lot, that means you used too much.

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  4. Could you post the homemade frebreze recipe. I have made my laundry soap before. I have just gotten lazy about making it. But I am going to start making it again.

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  5. Where do you buy the stuff to make it? All we have in town I buy supplies at is Wal-Mart.

    I would love to try this!

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  6. Get this. So Friday after work I went to Walmart and they had the Borax, but nothing else. I got online and I could order the Zotes and Washing Soda for $30 with shipping. I thought, I'm going to wait. On Saturday I ran over 15 miles to a little town to their home owned grocery store. Guess what they had? The rest of my supplies. And I bought it all for under $5.00. So I'm off to make laundry soap!

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  7. Love the dishwashing stuff...works really well. Would love the febreeze recips

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  8. you can get the stuff at rural king my mom get the stuff from their for the laundry soap

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  9. I can't believe I'm writing this, but...
    I think I'm getting excited about cleaning my toilet right now! Thanks for the recipe. Love your blog...your newest follower :)

    http://loriannsfoodandfam.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
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