The ridiculous cost of cleaning products has always bothered me, so this week I attempted to try a few home-made versions and test them out. The results were good and bad... Home-made laundry detergent turned out great and was super easy to make! Grate and melt a bar of soap (I used Ivory) in 4 cups of boiling water, then add to approximately 3 gallons of water in a large container. (Tidy Cats litter container worked perfect.) Then add 1 cup of Arm & Hammer washing soda and 1/2 cup of Borax and allow to cool overnight. It turns into a gelatinous soup consistency and you can easily scoop a 1/2 cup portion into each load of laundry. The cleaning results were just as good as my normal brand (Arm & Hammer or Purex) and it only costs pennies per load! If you are more of a visual person, I have included a link with pics and a video for reference... The Simple Dollar.
In contrast, I also thought, wouldn't it be easy to make my own dishwasher detergent, too?? WRONG!!! I tried 1 tbsp of washing soda and 1 tbsp of Borax and the dishes were neither clean as well as they were covered in a chalky film. Borax and baking soda provided the same result. I did learn that vinegar is a good rinse agent, however, after several attempts I'm still going to have to hand wash my trial subjects.
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Do let me know when you plant your Victory Garden. <3
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