First, one thing that drives me bonkers is dustin will never drink water at home...it's always milk, juice, gatorade, etc. It's at least good it's all healthy stuff rather than soda, but seems to get expensive when he drinks SO much of it over the free water that he could be using! So today I found that Gatorade makes a powder that you mix with water to make your own gatorade which is WAAAAAAAAY cheaper than the premade bottles we always buy. So I mixed some of that up and will see what he thinks of this!
Next, I've read on some other blogs of people making their own laundry detergent and it saves them a ton of money....so I thought why not give that a stab?! Here's the supplies I had to buy--
5 Gallon Bucket- on sale at Lowe's for $1
Fehls Napa bar- $2.29
Arm & Hammer Washing Soda- $3.29
Borax- $2.79
So even if this is total disaster, I haven't wasted much money cause I can still use the bucket, washing soda, and borax for things. Basically I'm just out my $2 bar of soap.
So you start by grating the bar of soap into a pot on low heat and just dissolve it to make soapy water. It dissolved VERY easily, but did take a while to grate!
I then put the bucket in the bath tub (since we never use) and filled it half way with hot water. Then I added 1 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup Borax and stirred until dissolved. I added my soapy mixture and gave it a swish. Then you add more hot water to fill to the top. Stir a little more and cover. My bucket didn't have a lid, so I've just used Saran Wrap.
I'll let it sit overnight and it should thicken. And then I can fill some containers halfway with the mixture and the other half with water and it gels into detergent. I'll end up with 10 gallons total and use 1/4 cup for each load...so this is going to last like all year I swear and theoretically each time I make this only costs less than $3!
Click here for a link to the recipe.
