Going Green(ish)

Lately I have been thinking a lot about living simply, saving money, using homemade products, and eating more naturally. More on all of that later. One easy change was making my own laundry detergent. For a long time I have had an issue with the cost of laundry detergent and have felt disgruntled about having to spend 12 bucks to wash 64 loads of laundry. (Someone should pay ME to do laundry!) I have heard a couple of other moms lately talking about making their own detergent, and thought I would google it. Turns out most recipes are all the same as are the instructions. I used the recipe found HERE and the next time I made a trip to Walmart, I picked up all the supplies.

I was a little worried about finding the specific ingredients, but they had everything I was looking for (borax and washing soda in the laundry detergent aisle and soap in the soap/shampoo aisle). I spent a grand total of under 6 dollars, and made 2 gallons of detergent. Each load uses a 1/2 cup. I won’t do the math, but it is going to last me a LONG time, I usually do about 5 loads of laundry a week. Not only did I get 2 gallons of detergent, I have enough of my supplies left to make another 5 batches. To be fair, I should also add in the cost of the big bucket I store it in, since I bought it specifically for this purpose…so there is another 5 dollars, bringing it up to $11.00 total. I have been using it for a couple of weeks now, and it is working great, no different than standard detergent. For ease of use, Justin was kind enough to fill up an empty detergent bottle that is a more manageable size. So, score one for me and minimizing unhealthy ingredients while keeping a few of my dollars in my pocket instead of Mr. Walmart’s!