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I’ve blogged about this before, but every fall my allergies get pretty bad. I can’t stand the fragrance in laundry detergent or cleaning products. I began cleaning the bathrooms with hydrogen peroxide, which was great except that I had to be SO careful not to bleach my clothes or towels. I’ve experimented with making my own cleaning products, but biggest success has been with making my own laundry deterent.

Here’s the recipe.

1 Bar Fels Naptha ($1.19 at my local Kroger’s)
1 Cup Borax ($4.99 for a 55 oz. box on Amazon)
1 Cup Washing Soda ($4.34 for a 76 oz. box on Amazon)

All of these are found at my local Kroger’s in the laundry aisle. Grate the bar of Fels Naptha. Mix the grated Fels Naptha with the borax and washing soda. Use 1/4 cup per load of regular laundry.

According to an online ounces to cups converter, this recipe makes enough for approximately 10 loads of laundry, and you’d still have 5.875 cups of washing soda and 8.5 cups of borax leftover.

If you made 6 batches it would cost approimately $16.47 giving you enough for 60 loads of laundry. That comes out to 27.45 cents a load, and I’m pretty sure Amazon’s prices are higher than Kroger’s, so it may actually be less. And, in making six batches you’d still have .875 cups of washing soda and 3.5 cups of borax leftover!

I sure hope my calculations are correct. I probably shoul have asked David to write this post for me! He’d have a great spreadsheet or chart or something. And he probably knows the formula to convert ounces to cups by heart.

Anyway, I’ve saved a lot of money by making my own laundry detergent, and as people with chronic illnesses, we are always looking for ways to save money. It works for me! Hope it works for you, too!

Love,
A Young Wife

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Since our house has been off the market, I’ve felt so relaxed with my housekeeping and homemaking. It’s fabulous cleaning and organizing for our needs rather than keeping the house staged. Lately I’ve been trying lots of new things to save money and be healthy.

I’ve been trying to make my own household cleaners. It seems like a good way to save money, and the fragrance in most cleaners, even “green” or “eco-friendly” products makes me sneeze.

I made my own laundry detergent. It was so inexpensive and there’s no fragrance to bother my allergies. I’ve washed stinky tee shirts and mildewy towels with good results.

One of my favorite books, Real Simple Solutions, suggested cleaning bathrooms with Hydrogen Peroxide. I’ve done this a few times. It works great, but it does bleach fabric, so you have to be really careful and only use rags that you don’t mind looking spotty.

Since I already had borax and washing soda on hand from the laundry detergent, I made my own dishwashing detergent. I was satisfied with the results. Just be sure to use a rinse aid or vinegar.

Anyone else making their own cleaning products?

One more money saving tip. I made a whole chicken in a crock pot. I don’t like dark meat, and I get really freaked out about germs when cutting up raw chicken, but this method worked beautifully. It was so easy and cheap! David just ate a drumstick and said it was delicious. I seasoned it with minced garlic and Herbs de Provence. I’ve got the broth simmering right now. Thanks Happy Housewife!

Love,
A Young Wife

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Page 194 of the September issue of Family Circle says that a recent study found that people who chew gum regularly report less overall anxiety. Darn. I knew I missed chewing gum!

Check out these blog posts for recipes for making your own seasoning mixes. I’m totally going to start making my own taco seasoning and BBQ seasoning.

How does chronic illness affect intimacy in marriage?

This post and several other sources have got me thinking about switching to vinegar, borax and baking soda for cleaning products. My question is, does this sort of house cleaning method save money, or is it just environmentally friendly? What cleaning products do you use? Would you consider giving up 409?

This blog brings out the shabby chic lover in me! I love the Gooseberry Patch catalog. Sigh. Maybe someday David will come around to my kind of decorating. Eh, well, I guess I wouldn’t like him quite as much if he like antiques and lace.

Okay, now for some real housewife blogging.

David soaks in a hot bath 2-3 times a day because of his arthritis so I do a lot of extra laundry. Not just towels. David doesn’t like to put “dirty” clothes on after he gets out of the bath. He puts on fresh clothes each time. Here’s what I like for laundry.

Tide with Baking Soda with White Lilac fragrance. It’s one of the few fragrances I can stand. It’s hard to find around here. I usually find it at Target. Sometimes Albertson’s carries it.

Our laundry room is at the top of the stairs.

Wal-Mart sells the Simplicity brand. It’s hypo-allergenic, fragrance free, phosphate free, non-toxic and biodegradable. I use this because it’s cheap, and it doesn’t bother me when my allergies flare up in the fall.

Having the laundry room upstairs is great. 95% of the laundry gets put away upstairs anyway.

I don’t like the huge containers of laundry detergent with a spigot. I know it’s cheaper, but they’re so heavy! As you can see, all my laundry supplies are stored over my head. Plus, I hate having detergent drip all over the living room. I just watch for good sales on the smaller containers and use coupons.

The drawstring bag is for cleaning rags so they don't touch the rest of the laundry.

For fabric softener, I use store brand fragrance free sheets. Thanks to Kerri I’m going to try using vinegar as fabric softener when I run out of sheets. I don’t use bleach on our laundry. If I need to get whites white again, I use lemon juice or White Brite.

Anyone else have laundry tips?

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