Sunday, January 6, 2013

Laundries

Not my image - via here

Today, we went ammunition hunting. And we were amazingly successful! Ended up way on the other side of town - no clue where, let's be honest, I'm no good geographically. But we came back with 6 boxes of 9mm. Which is amazing right now, for serious.
But that's D's story to tell, not mine. That's just how we spent the day.

Then we came home, and had no idea what to do.
I went through my magazine hoard. Yes, I hoard. Lots of different things. And that is one of them.
Anyway, I tore out all the pretty pictures I wanted to save and put them in a binder. Like a real-life Pinterest! I did that when I was a kid, used lots and lots of scotch tape that way. But when you grow up with bad fake wood paneling, you gotta do something, right? Oh I wish I had pictures to show you...I will have to dig for some, so you can see the horribly 70's house I grew up in.

After that, the afternoon was meh.
We are exciting people!

And we are in the search of things to do. We need projects. We dunno what projects to do. D's birthday is in two days. No clue what we're doing for that, either.
We've been racking our brains, and don't have anything.
Therefore, I have nothing exciting to post.

However, I am in  luck, because I've been wanting to share something for a while now.

Homemade Laundry Detergent. 
Found here.
I did a lot of canning and such at the end of August, and wanted to make more things that I would not have to buy.
And stumbled onto this. I'd heard of making your own laundry detergent before. And never tried it - there was the chance that I'd buy all the stuff, and not like it.

A lot of the recipes call for Borax.
Not my image - via here.

So I googled what that actually was. I'm familiar with it, we stock it at the store I work at. The powder that comes out of the box is...not of a lovely texture. Turns out you can kill fleas and roaches and whatnot with it.
And you want  to put that on your clothes? No thank you.
So, at the end of the summer I did a search for laundry detergent without Borax.

And found this recipe, that I've linked to above.
It's lovely, I assure you.
The clothes come out clean, the towels, the sheets, the kitchen towels, the washing the floor cloths...it all comes out lovely. Not smelling of anything, except for clean clothes and sometimes a hint of the castile soap used.

And this is all I had to buy: Castile Soap and Washing Soda.
Castile soap can be kinda spendy. I do believe this bottle was 12$. But the washing soda was about 3.50$. So, for under 16$ I have the best laundry detergent ever.
No, it is not a stain remover. It will get out most of the icky, but strongly discoloured things will not come back the correct colour. But it's only wash rags I have this problem with - and that is alright, but more on that another day.

And this stuff smells great. Citrus, yes please! And, you can use it to clean anything. I've used it on the carpet, and it works pretty good. Magic soap indeed!


This is the set up. The powder is a combination of the washing soda, salt, and baking soda. I'm still working on the first batch of the recipe I made. I'm almost out, but considering I've been using it since September or so, not a bad investment.

Let me reiterate that. Since September. And I've barely made a dent. For 16 dollars.  That bottle of soap is still almost full!
That's D's cheat-sheet. For when he does laundry. Which isn't very often. Hence it's his cheat-sheet. You understand, Internets, right? I'm sure you do.

xoxo, Jess (who really needs a new project!)


11 comments:

  1. That sounds interesting. I might try that when I get my own place. I'm very interested in home made products. I've already started using home made deodorant and I'm going onto shampoo next

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've thought about trying homemade deodorant, other than I tend to sweat a lot (eww) and actually can only use kind made for men to be somewhat successful at smelling decently. Again, eww. And unless you have strict people you are sharing a washing machine with, I don't see a reason to have to wait until you got your own place to try this. It takes up no space at all. About the same as the big bottles of detergent, really. :)

      Delete
    2. I posted a guide to it last month. I've been using for a month and I can't believe how well it is working. I recommend it and its so easy to make. Did I mention that it works incredibly well? :P

      http://gingerchestnut.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/home-made-deodorant.html

      Delete
    3. Also, to try this, I would have to look for a UK alternative. I've never heard of Castile so can you use any soap or must it be something specific?

      Delete
    4. Alright alright, if it actually works that great, why not. Now to find coconut oil...no clue what that is.
      And Castile soap is basically a soap that is derived from olive oil. I hadn't heard of it either. I would look in the health section at the grocery store, or if you have a grocery store that is marketed as a health store, they are bound to have it. If not, I've heard of plenty of people purchasing it off Amazon.com, if all else fails.

      Delete
    5. WHAT WHAT WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT? You don't know what coconut oil is? I must educate you :P you find it in the skin and hair department of a drugstore or an African shop. Or a health shop but that is more expensive even though it is great. Google it on where to find it in America. Its wonderstuff. Its great for skin and hair. For the soap I will see if I can get something olive oil based to try it

      Delete
    6. I think my mother-in-law-to-be gave some to our dog for his itchy skin when we were up at Christmas. Other than that, I'm not familiar with it at all. And I don't even think it was an oil, just a powder. I don't really get into the health food stores very often - a bit out of my price range mostly. And I will definitely look for it next time I'm out and about - because I need some good hair stuff. And, obviously, some for homemade deodorant!

      Delete
    7. its definitely worth it. you can use it for your whole body and everything. I'm spoiled because in England we have almost everything easily available. It comes solidified in a tub

      Delete
    8. We have most things here as well, and if its not close by, there's always Amazon or something to get it from. There's so many varieties of stores here, so many different types of products. But that's living in a city, I suppose.

      Delete
  2. That's a pretty cool recipe find! Great to meet you Vinty Dam, thanks so much for stopping by the blog!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really is, considering all the others use Borax, and that stuff just kinda gives me the creeps!
      Thanks for following!
      xoxo, Jess

      Delete