I like that it has "gal" in it. In the 'good ole days' the word "gal" and "guy" was used more often than "chick" or "dude". Speaking of simpler times, I have spent the last couple days researching some do-it-yourself things, and on the top of my list, is laundry detergent, out of sheer determined curiosity (or, the fact that I've run out, and am days away from shopping day) I found a couple recipes. One for powder, and one for liquid (or, gel, as it were). I prefer liquid over powder for the plain old reason that the powder collects in the crevice of the lid of the washing machine and it bugs me. You know that crevice I'm talking about. Yeah, that one. I can't have anything in there.
Turns out I should be able to make my own laundry detergent with Arm&Hammer Washing Soda, Borax, and bar soap (your choice). Oh, and water, - if you want to make the liquid kind. The cost per load will be around $.03. THREE CENTS. C'mon all you farmhousewife wannabe's - that's classic! Three cents per load of laundry?? Now if I could just turn the barnyard gasses into electricity to run the dryer (during the winter only, of course) I'd be the Queen of my farmhouse castle. Wait, I already AM the Queen.
A 'fabric softener' is white vinegar added to the rinse cycle. (I'm thinking there's no reason my Downy ball can't hold vinegar for that purpose, right?)
Crazy right? Make your own laundry detergent. I know what you're thinking; Costco has it in bulk for $xx.xx - but here's the thing - you have to drive to Costco (which, for me is about an hour away) and there's also the issue of the emptied plastic container - which if not recycled will last about a million years in the landfill.
Frugality is good. I would even go so far as to boast that 90% of what is in and around our little farmhouse is second-third and even fourth-hand. Thrift stores, flea-markets, antique shops, are our Saks-Fifth-Avenues of choice. Reduce - Re-use - Recycle. We should all do it.
Besides, it sounds like fun to mix up a five gallon (used paint container of course) bucket of glop.
Again, I can't say it enough. Life is good.
p.s. I must give credit where credit is due - I found a likely laundry detergent recipe here and also here, which incidentally, was my favorite. I bounced around his site for just a little while (hours!) and thoroughly enjoyed it! I highly recommend you do the same!
Simply put-this is a blog about the city girl I used to be-the country girl I am now-and the things that are important to me. This is about the journey of life from the tiny to enormous and joyous bits in between. Here we are learning the hard way about gardening, homesteading, canning, solar-living, wood-cookstoving, animal husbandry and wearing out a lot of flip-flops along the way.
4 comments:
Am SO looking forward to having a place of our own again where I can burn off the weight. Your inspiration of getting back to basics will drive me.
Recycling everything? Maybe a call to the green channel and teach them a thing or two. hehehe.
I'm so excited to hear how making your own laundry soap goes! Once you try it, I'd love to hear about how it went...what you learned, etc. It's something I'm planning on tackling soon, too! :)
Jen Maurer
You're back! I haven't checked in for a long time, and popped in out of curiosity to see if you have anything new posted.
You're singin'my tune, fhw. FRUGALITY. Our family wouldn't survive without it. We need to S-T-R-E-T-C-H our dollar as far as we can.
And that homemade detergent is great! It is a little work to make it, bit oh, so worth it. (and yes, I know of the powder residue which you speak--ACK!)
~Debra
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