Homemade Laundry Soap Report

Well, a few days ago, I posted that I was trying a new homemade laundry soap. After I got it made up, life got in the way, and I didn't get to use it until today. This post is the report I promised.

Results:
I had to shake the bottle of laundry soap to get the semi-solids to dissolve back into the liquid, but the recipe mentioned that. My clothes are clean, with no soapy residue. The colors came out bright. They smell fresh and have a soft clean smell--not a heavy laundry perfume smell like you get sometimes with store bought laundry soap.

I have been wearing an outfit today that I washed using the homemade laundry soap. I am so allergic to everything that I have had to change my commercial laundry soap every three months or so to prevent rashes on my arms and back. Even clean clothes washed in commercial laundry soap make me itch. So far, clothes washed in the homemade laundry soap are comfortable, and I am not itching at all. Relief!

At the price, about 1 penny per load, this homemade soap is much more economical than the store bought kind. I believe I will continue to use this from now on. I have no allergic problems with Ivory brand soap or with baking soda, which are two of the main ingredients in the recipe.

To finish up the wash, I used a vinegar and water softener (1/4 cup vinegar to 1 cup of water) in the rinse cycle to soften the clothes.

I am totally impressed. Visit Making Homemade Laundry Soap for the recipe I used. Make sure you use at least a 3 quart pan when you melt the grated soap, though, or you will have a mess to clean up. You will need to shake the soap several times over the first few days to keep it from congealing into a white blob in the liquid, but eventually it does not need this. I used plastic 1 gallon juice bottles to store the soap.

For more homemade cleaning supplies, try Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living. You will also find recipes for made at home shampoo, mouthwash, and other personal care products.

Bulk Cooking Saves Time

Bulk Cooking Saves Time
Spending one or two days a month cooking up casseroles and pre-cooking meats, rice and pasta will save hours of kitchen preparation time through the month. To make this most effective, pre-cook 10 lbs. of hamburger, 10 lbs. of chicken breasts, 10 cups of rice, and 10 cups of macaroni or other pasta.

Store these as follows:
Hamburger: 1 cup (equivalent to 1/2 lb. uncooked)
Chicken in Bite Sized Pieces: 1 cup
Rice: 2 cups
Macaroni: 2 cups

Do not add salt or seasonings to any of the foods you pre-cook. Salt will prevent proper freezing. Add salt and seasonings when you use them to prepare meals.

For best results, use airtight freezer containers. Date and label each container and rotate them, using the oldest dated items first.

Freeze these foods in a freezer, not the freezer compartment of your refridgerator. The refridgerator freezer compartment does not keep foods as cold as the freezer does.

Money Saving Cleaning Tips

As an asthmatic with numerous allergies, cleaning house is a real 'chore,' since I often cannot breathe while using commercial products. Recently, I found a recipe for homemade laundry detergent made from simple, inexpensive ingredients. It did not take long to cook up and has a fresh, clean smell. I am really looking forward to using it, starting tomorrow after it sets up into a gel. I will post here to let you know what I think of the mixture after using it tomorrow.

If you want to try it for yourself, visit Making Homemade Laundry Soap.

According to Crystal Miller's figuring, this money saving laundry soap recipe costs approximately 1¢ per load to use. At this point, the only recommendation I have is to make sure you follow directions on the size of the container you mix the laundry soap in. Otherwise, you will have a foaming mess to clean up.

At my house, even with just the two of us, now that the children are grown and moved away, laundry is a major expense. This recipe should help make that expense more managable.