April 10, 2013

New Year, New home...New Laundry Detergent!



I am so thrilled to share this post from Tina Dean Designs, textile artist and eco-maven who had been known to grind her own flour and also make her own laundry soap.


For this weeks installment of New Year New Home, I asked Tina to share her recipe and instructions for her laundry detergent. It blew me away reading her post and realizing just how much money we are spending on our liquid detergent, not to mention how much waste we are contributing to our recycling bin.

One of the things that I've done for my family to save money is make my own laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent.  Now, I have tried making my own liquid soap (which looked quite gelatinous - read more practice needed), and also toothpaste which I got way too much salt in, so more practice needed there, too.  BUT, the two things that are a major savings to the family are the detergents.

Without further adieu, here's Tina!



 



There are a number of recipes on the web, but I'll share the ones that I find the easiest (both are powder).

Laundry Detergent
2 cups grated soap (I use Ivory) 1 cup washing soda (You can find Arm & Hammer Washing Soda in some grocery stores)
1 cup borax

Easy peasy - Use a couple of tablespoons for a load, or more if you've got a large load washer like me.  I also like to triple the recipe so I don't have to make it as often.  I've got two boys and a husband who create lots of laundry.

I store the detergent in a large plastic container, the kind you put left-overs in.

Cost: About $.03/load vs. about $.30/load of commercial detergent.


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Did you read that? That's a savings of $.27 per load of laundry! And if you're like us, you probably do 6 or so loads per week. That makes...

Weekly savings $1.62
Monthly savings $6.48
Yearly savings $77.76

That's a new pair of shoes! A new dress! Or a dinner and movie night with your spouse!

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

Pinning this for later!

Heather said...

I wonder if this works in front loading washers that have the detergent drawers on top..

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