Laundry Soap

We made our first batch of laundry soap on Feb. 3 and we ran out today (March 25). We have done 136 loads of laundry (probably a few more than that, the boys weren't as diligent as marking the sheet). So that mean is cost us..................drumroll........................ .0057 cents per load to wash clothes. Thats 1/2 of a penny. Really cheap and it cleaned the clothes well too!!!!!

Actually, given the change I collected after Waiter Boy did his laundry. It cost us nothing per load except for the water.

I found a homemade fabric softener also that we have been using. Its not as cheap per load but its about 1/4 of the price of the cheapest, on sale, with coupons Downey that I have ever bought.

The Fed Ex man delivered my new clothesline yesterday. So once the pollen and the rain are over, we will be regularly hanging our clothes up outside. It really helps keep the heat down in the house in the Miss. summer not to run the clothes dryer all day.

Lots of things I would rather spend money on....we need to buy pool chemicals...don't know any homemade recipes for that item.

Update on detergent and moving

OK, here is an update on the homemade laundry detergent. I took the cost of making the detergent (.76) and divided it by how many loads we have done so far...36, so that makes the cost .0217 per load. Thats all of our household laundry plus the dirties that James, Allen and Andy have washed here. And the bucket is still half full. The boys are notorious for leaving change in their pockets and washing it, sometimes they remember to get it and sometimes they don't. I have told them all that if it is left, I consider it my tip for providing the washer, dryer, water, detergent, etc. Last week Allen left about $1.75 in quarters, dimes and pennies...its mine now! So that really makes the cost of the detergent $0 and I made money on the deal! As Rob would say...SWEET!!!!!
I do return paper money, but that doesn't get washed real often.

The boys have been moving this weekend. Andy went and got his belongings from college and moved into James' spare bedroom at his trailer. Then Allen decided he would move down there too and take the living room. So the 3 of them are now living about 30 minutes away from our home. Since we own the trailer, the rent is very reasonable...ok, its cheap. And splitting the utilities 3 ways makes this a very affordable option for all 3 of them. Hopefully, this will allow each of them to straighten out and get control of their finances and be able to save some money for their future needs. James and Andy are on early morning work schedules and then they get off mid afternoon. Allen goes to work mid afternoon and gets off about midnight.

Time for our Monday sewing class!

Laundry Detergent

A big expense at our house is laundry detergent. For 3 years we used the Tide HE detergent. Last spring I read in the "Urban Homemaker" catalog about their very concentrated powder detergent and I ordered it. It has actually worked great. I spent $22 for a box of detergent and it lasted for 6 months. That was a huge savings from the Tide. I only had to use a teaspoon per load. And yes, it cleaned the clothes well. Then, I read on different blogs and saw on different tv shows about people making their own detergent. So, last week we gave this a try.

Here is our recipe...

1 bar Ivory soap
1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Washing soda
1/2 cup Borax


Grate soap and put in saucepan. Add 6 cups water and heat till the soap melts. Add the washing soda and borax and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into a 3-4 gallon bucket. Add soap mixture and stir. Then add 2 additional gallons of water and stir. Let the soap sit for 24 hours to gel. You use 1/2 cup per load.

We have modified this in that we use 1/4 cup per load and it works great.

I got this recipe from www.thefamilyhomestead.com.

My cost for this batch of laundry detergent is...
.21 borax
.22 washing soda
.33 ivory soap
?? 2 gallons + 10 cups of water

Thats .76 for a big bucket of laundry detergent. We are keeping track of how many loads of laundry we get out of this bucket to figure our cost per load.

I had read on several blogs about getting buckets from bakeries or grocery stores. I asked at Kroger in the bakery and they gave me a bucket that icing came in, for free. It did take 2 trips to Kroger for the bucket, but I am at Kroger once or twice per week so I didn't make a special trip.

The kids enjoyed helping. I took pictures and helped stir. We will do this again! I will be able to get 18 more 1/2 cups of borax and 13 more batches of washing soda from the boxes I bought last week.