Homemade Laundry Detergent

Jeremy and I decided to start making our own laundry detergent a couple of years ago because we wash A LOT of clothes for 2 people... and we were spending a lot on laundry detergent.  We also both have awful skin allergies so we wanted to start making our own to save money and help our skin.  It really is a great "recipe" and you can use it for baby clothes as well! 


Ingredients:

1. 5 gallon bucket
2. 2 1/2 cups of Arm & Hammer(or any brand) washing powder 
3. 2 gallons of warm water
4. 3 of your favorite scent bars of soap

Directions:

1. Grate your soap, using a cheese grater, into a bowl.  I use the smallest blades on the grater because it helps the soap melt quicker.  Please note... when picking your soap, I suggest picking a soap that is more solid.  What I mean is... do not use a soap that has a lot of moisturizer in it.  It makes it VERY hard to melt and can change the consistency of your detergent!
2. Once soap is grated, add it to a medium boiler and SLOWLY cover it with water.  If you cover it too fast the soap will start to bubble.
3. On low heat, melt the soap and water.  DO NOT BOIL!!!! I repeat... DO NOT BOIL!  If you let it boil, you will have a bubbly soapy MESS!
4. While the soap is melting, pour 2 gallons of water into the 5 gallon bucket. 
5. Once the soap is melted (melting could take 25 to 45 mins), add it to the 2 gallons of water, SLOWLY.
6. Add the 2 1/2 cups of washing powder.
7. Stir SLOWLY until well mixed.
8. Let sit over night and you have your detergent!

We use about a cup to cup 1/2 with each wash.  I still add bleach to my whites and towels and I also use fabric softener sheets occasionally.  

You can add borax to the mixture, but it is not needed.  Research has shown that most of the "cleaning" of the clothes actually occurs as a result of the mixing, rinsing, and spin cycle... so Borax is not needed unless you just want to add it to the mixture!

Hope you enjoy!!! :)

Let's start off with something simple...

Ok...so before I go into a lengthy blog about natural child birth or fluoride in the water... I thought I would start out with something simple...  That is... homemade deodorant!!!!! Yes... it WORKS!!!!!  I will confess to you, I do not use this (I have no good reason except for the fact that I like the way the deodorant I use smells), but I should!!!  Jeremy uses it every day (and has for the past year or so) and as someone who sweats a lot, he will be the first to say it MOST CERTAINLY works!!!!  So you want to know how???

1. Take a cotton ball

2. Dab it with rubbing alcohol, then wet your underarms with the alcohol

3. Take your pointer finger and dip it in the baking soda then spread it over the underarm area

And you are DONE!  I promise it works...just try it on a day you'll be lounging around the house and you'll see it works!

You might be asking why you should do this.  Well for a couple of reasons...

1.  There are many harmful chemicals in deodorant... check these websites out!

          

      http://www.dyingtolookgood.com/deodorant_danger.html

      http://ezinearticles.com/?Deodorant---Top-7-Ingredients-To-Avoid&id=146987

      

2.  The homemade deodorant is CHHHEEEAAAAPPP (whoop whoop) and lasts a pretty long time (3-6 months or longer).

     

• cotton balls (100-300 count) =  ~ $1.00
• rubbing alcohol (16 ounces) = ~ $.75 - $1.00
• baking soda (1 lb box) = ~ $.48 - $.70

Store bought deodorant can range from $3.00 to $7.00 + and lasts me about a month to month 1/2

3.  With the homemade kind, you don't get that weird, smelly sock odor that comes when the deodorant is just starting to wear off (yeah...YOU KNOW what I am talking about!)

4. It is simple!!!!!

So...We have entered the matrix

YEEELLLLOOOWWWWW!!!!


I have FOREVER talked bad about bloggers and people who were obsessed with reading blogs because I thought it was "trendy" and just another way for people to get attention, but... I have fallen victim to the blog bug!  
After many long talks with Jeremy (my husband), I finally decided that it was time to get "back to the basics" and to tell others about living a more natural, simple, and ultimately Godly life.  Jeremy and I constantly get asked about the hows and whys we live the way we live, so we decided it was time to start sharing it!  No...we are not these crazy, hippy, natural FREAKS (as people commonly might stereotype us as), we simply believe that getting back to our roots is a simple, cost efficient, and peaceful way of living that we want to share with others!  
Warning... this blog will be full of OUR opinions, research we have found, scriptures we love, and our thoughts on life.  We are in NO way trying to offend or sway others!  We just want to express an alternative to living that others might enjoy.  


So...enjoy!!!!!!!


~Kristen 

"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."

Philippians 1:9-11