Four Steps to Putting Away Laundry

Step #1 : Get little sister on your shoulders. Make sure she has a hanger of clothes between her teeth, so she can hold on to your head...


Step #2 : Stand & steady little sister on the shoulders....

Step #3 : Walk to the closet, closer, closer, closer....Hold steady. Little Sister gets the hanger on the bar. Declare Victory!!!!

Step #4 : Repeat until all closet clothes are off the bed & in the closet...


How do you get the laundry put away at your house?

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Cost Cutting that I Use

This is my recipe for laundry detergent. It makes 2 1/2 gallons of detergent, initial cost is maybe $15-20, depending on the prices in your area, however when you break it down the cost is only about $1 per bucket of detergent, and last us - including the detergent I made for my mom, so 6 people - around 9 months. It is also AWESOME if anyone has skin allergies, I can't comfortably use any other detergent, even "free and clear" ones because they all break me out to some degree, I've never had an issue with the stuff I make.

Other things I do that cut down on costs is I buy the whole 5 lb processed ham, at WM and take it to the deli and have them slice it for me, then when I get home I separate it into 1lb freeze bags, freeze all but one bag of it at a time - $7(maybe) for 5lbs of sandwich ham, instead of $3 per 1/2lb.

Coupons - when my printer has ink.

I buy the ink refill bottles for the printer...it works wonderfully until you screw it up and put the colored ink in the black and black in the colored...

I make my own cleaners using vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, and rubbing alcohol...there's quite a few different ones listed on here : http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/153/1/Earth-friendly-oven-cleaning.html Maybe about $5 a month as opposed to my "normal" $30-ish.

Of course generic items.

I also try to go to the local butcher and buy most of my meats there, they're fresher and are generally cheaper. In the spring I build up a garden and freeze or can a great portion of it - Spaghetti Sauce & Salsa especially. I also bake a lot of my own bread.

I do have a bit of an advantage out here where I live because I have an awesome neighbor who brings me a flat (2 1/2 dozen) of eggs every week or so that his chickens have laid. He also has some hogs & a cow he's going to be taking to slaughter this spring and will just split the processing cost with him to fill our freezer - roughly $400 (maybe) for half an "organic, free range" cow and one or two full hogs, all cuts of both.

I limit my driving to just what's necessary and do all my running in the same day, planning the trip out so I don't have to back track most of the time. We (as a family, I'm quite sure Brian eats out more often than he admits) don't go out to eat more than *maybe* once a month.

I bake something daily, and cook dinner nightly. I also have a stock pile(that needs to be refreshed) of freezer safe plastic containers that I'll fill with lunch size meals, from any leftovers we have, and put them in the freezer for later. Brian then takes them to work with him - when he thinks about it - for lunch there or we'll have them here for lunch - just something we can pop in the microwave, much like any other TV dinner, but without all the "preservatives and sodium". I don't buy many snacky junk type foods - soda, only if we're having a gathering here at the house; snack cakes - not at all, I make them instead - well cookies, cakes, the like; chips are a rare purchase, maybe one or two bags a month, maybe, instead I do buy crackers for those salt cravings, but most don't go through crackers like they do chips; etc etc.

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Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe

This is the recipe that I use, there are other variations and it's fairly easy to variate it according to your personal needs.

You will need :
**1 good sized clean bucket, with a lid, I use the Scoop Away kitty litter buckets
**Arm & Hammer Washing Soda - this is different than Baking Soda, do not inter use the two! For those of you who are local folks, I have been able to find it at Reasor's in Langley, you might be able to find it at the Amish Stores in Chouteau, but I don't know for sure????
**Borax 20 Mule Team - easy to find at Wal-Mart, etc
**Bar Ivory soap
**Large pan for boiling - I use an old stock pan that I don't make use of otherwise.
**Funnel
**Wooden spoon, paint stir stick, something durable that you can stir with, plastic doesn't seem to do quite as well as wooden.
**Old laundry detergent bottle(s)

**Optional :
OxyClean powder, including the OxyClean does make the price a bit higher, but for badly grimy clothes it works great as a booster to the detergent itself.
Essential oils, scent of your choice

Directions :
1. Put pan on the stove, add a half gallon of water.
2. Grate the bar of Ivory soap, add it to the water, start it boiling.
3. Boil the water, with the soap, until the soap is completely liquefied - VERY important! You do not want to see any solid flakes, at all. I use an old wooden spoon to stir & check for
4. After the bar of soap is liquefied, add 1 cup of the washing soda, 1 cup of the Borax, & one scoop of the OxyClean, if using the OxyClean, and add in another half gallon of water, boil until all ingredients are dissolved.

5. In your bucket have 1 gallon of cold water waiting.
6. Add the boiling water to the cold water.
7. Mix well.
8. Add in another half gallon of water, mix.
9. Add in 10-15 (or so) drops of the essential oils - basically whatever your desire is on strength of scent.

10. Use the funnel to pour into old detergent bottles, but leave room to shake the bottle.

11. As the detergent cools it has a tendency to separate & thicken - shake well before each use to remix.

12. Store any left over detergent in the bucket with a lid, stir well before refilling your container.


Estimated initial start-up cost is less than $20. When making the detergent without the OxyClean the cost per 2 1/2 gallons of detergent is roughly $1.25. Two and a half gallons of Tide will run you an average of $60. Adding the OxyClean ups your start up cost to roughly $30, and the price per 2 1/2 gallons is about $2.50. This, in my person opinion & experience, out preforms Tide & similar products.

Enjoy!

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Homemade Laundry Detergent vs Store Bought

At least in my home...

Back in February I started making my own laundry detergent, I've used it without fail until about 3 weeks ago...I'd ran out of washing soda & had not been able to find any anywhere in the last (almost) year. So I ended up having to buy laundry detergent.

Comparison #1: I spent $12 on this one bottle, a bottle that is quickly coming to an end. I only spent $12 on the last almost whole year's worth of homemade laundry detergent.

Comparison #2: The SMELL! Oh.my.word! I buy unscented, dye free laundry detergent, when I do buy it, because it'll break me out just to touch it otherwise, much less wear it. But after using homemade detergent, which just has a very light, plain clean smell to it, scented if I add some essential oils to it, but very neutral overall...then using this dye free, perfume free detergent - I can honestly smell all the chemicals in it! FTR, I've been using the ALL Free & Clear.

Comparison #3: The FEEL of my clothes. I could actually tell that my cotton clothes were cotton, etc, they just felt like fresh crisp clothes with the homemade laundry soap. With store bought detergent - I can feel the detergent ON my clothes I don't use much detergent either, mainly because of my skin problems, but also because it is so darn expensive!

Comparison #4: Did I mention the smell??!! I'm in the process of drying the last load of this week's laundry escapade and it just STINKS! Yes, it smells like laundry detergent, but it smells chemically!

I'd put a comparison #5 for how well they each clean, but they both do a decent job at getting out the dirt, grease, etc in the clothes, without a pretreatment.

SO! With that list I am so happy to of been able to find, quite by accident, that the grocery store down the way, opposite of the way I go, in the next county over, actually has washing soda in stock!!! I can go back to washing my clothes in MY detergent!!!!

I really can't see myself going back to store bought detergents, it's just completely not worth it!

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