Laundry, again?

Well,  after a week away, I am back.

I spent the past weekend helping my husband cook for 200+ Scouts and Scouters at the annual Webelos Woods!  What an adventure!  I thought preparing 25 meals at a time for my family was work...not even close.

Some of you may remember last January I set out to begin making my own laundry detergent and fabric softener as I grew tired of the expense of buying it.

I am happy to say that I just ran out of the Arm& Hammer super Washing Soda and will need to buy more.  That means my initial investment of around $15.00 for all of the supplies (Washing Soda, Borax, Oxi Clean and Dawn dish soap) has lasted 10 + months- the batch I just mixed up will last 2-3 weeks!

When I go to the store this weekend and purchase more, I will get the exact cost.  I have also been mixing up my own batch of stain remover (oxi-clean & water mixed to a paste and scrubbed into the stain with an old toothbrush) as needed and it works wonderfully!

I am so happy with the results of my experiment.  I will also try to calculate the cost savings, but I'm going to estimate it conservatively around $275 over the past 10 months on just the detergent.  Now I have to figure where that money went (probably class ring and senior orders!). 

Here are the recipes I have been using (very simple):

HE Safe liquid Detergent (I quadruple this recipe):

3 Tbsp Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (not baking soda)
3 Tbsp Borax
3 Tsp Oxi Clean
3 Tsp Dawn blue dish soap

Fill a 4 cup measuring cup with 2 cups Hot water
Add ingredients (I add the Dawn last after the solids have been dissolved)
Stir until dissolved
Pour into 1 gallon container
Fill remainder of container with cold water slowly so it doesn't bubble over.

I use one of those countertop drink containers with the spigot on the bottom.  This is also what I mix everything in too.

The recipe says to use 1 cup for washing, but I use about a 1/2 cup and it works fine - 1/2 cup is what fits in my machine's dispenser.


HE Safe Fabric Softener (I also quadruple this recipe and store it in the same type of container):

2 cups conditioner (I buy the cheap stuff from the dollar store)
3 cups white distilled vinegar
6 cups water

Heat conditioner in the microwave until thin and bubbly
Pour the vinegar into a container
Add the conditioner
Stir together, but do not shake it
Pour in the water

I use just under a 1/4 cup to fill the dispenser on my washing machine for this.