Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Due to popular demand... the recipe for homemade laundry detergent.

I love this laundry detergent. The cost breakdown is about .40 per gallon. It makes 2 gallons at a time.... so .80 cents each batch! I've used this for well over a year now and it works great on all my clothes. There is no difference whatsoever in the quality between this and the overpriced stuff at the store.

Ingredients
6 cups of warm water
1/3 bar Fels Naptha Laundry Soap (grated)
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup Borax

Directions
Heat 6 cups of warm water and the grated Fels Naptha in a large pot until dissolved. I have a designated stock pot from Big Lots I use for my laundry soap. Stir in the washing soda and Borax. Mix and heat until dissolved. Boil 15 minutes. Remove from heat. It may have a honey-like consistency (but it is not required to be a honey-consistency). In a 3 or 5 gallon bucket, mix the soap and enough cold water to make 2 gallons. Gently mix. Pour into old laundry detergent containers or milk jugs. Let sit for 24 hours. The soap will gell*. Use 1/2 cup for each load. Shake before each use. The detergent separates and may have clumps. This is normal! It will not suds up in the washer, but it still gets your clothes nice and clean.

*If the detergent doesnt' gel up or reach honey consistency, it will still work!

Where to find the ingredients
Borax is very easy to find! It is at most stores, including grocery stores and Target.

Fels Naptha is mostly found at grocery stores, sometimes super stores like Target & Wal Mart.

Super Washing Soda is the hardest to find. I find mine at WinCo, but most people say they find it at Ace Hardware or sometimes large Wal Marts.

1/3 bar grated Fels Naptha

Stir 6 cups water and grated Fels Naptha until dissolved

Add 1/2 cup Super Washing Soda & 1/2 cup Borax and boil 15 minutes

Fill soap mixture and enough water to make 2 gallons

Fill in old laundry detergent containers or milk jugs.

Monday, October 24, 2011

I need to write before my brain turns to mush.

And somebody remind me I need to change my blog banner to working mom, not stay home mom!!!

I passed my English Capstone class, HOORAY! I got a 95% on my paper! I am so incredibly proud of myself that I can't even find the words to express my excitement. Hey, that really says something when the English major can't find the words! It is surreal that there is only one class left. My girlfriend/BFF I've made in this program just finished her last class this month, and now it only makes me more excited for December to scream out: I'm done! We're already planning our celebration in San Diego. I think confetti and champagne is in order for December.

October has been a bit crazy. You'd think it would have settled down because I don't have my class to worry about, right? No! Sprint now carries the iPhone, so we ended up swamped at work in preparation for the iPhone. The good thing is I'll have a bit of overtime on my next pay check. Of course, Apple didn't make enough of the new iPhone 4S, so nobody has it anymore and we're all anxiously awaiting more to come in.

There was a point this month though that I swore I'd never eat an apple again.... (hardy har har!)

You know, the funny thing about working in retail... while I'm reading on Facebook everyone boo-hoo-ing over it being a Monday, today is my Friday so I'm rejoicing! Tuesday & Wednesday are my days off, yippee! I have grand plans you know, it consists of coffee, Dr. Pepper, and book 3 of The Hunger Games. I can't friggen wait!

By the way, where is fall? I mean REALLY, it is still in the 80s here. I shouldn't complain much because I know in a month it'll drop to freezing... but come on! It's almost Halloween and it is still HOT?! Oh well, I'm still excited for Halloween coming up. Look how cute my little knights are!





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