DIY Laundry Detergent

On our quest to save money this year and to give me an outlet to be more crafty (and feel like a Martha Stewart DIY-er) I decided I wanted to try making some of our cleaning products. Two of the biggest expenses for us in the cleaning department are laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent. I easily do 3 loads of laundry a day, 5 days a week. I don't usually do laundry on the weekends unless there is something that is specifically needed by someone. I try to save in energy by using only cold or cool water (I tend to use more cool than cold these days, probably because I don't trust cold to get out the stubborn baby messes!) I would love to have a clothes line but I think they are banned by our HOA (pain in the butt I tell ya! Pain in the butt!!!) I might get a retractable one anyway and tell the HOA to shove it! lol I'm sure that would save some money too in the spring and fall (I don't think I could use it in the summer, it's too humid here in the river valley, and in the winter I'm sure our clothes would freeze!)

Laundry detergent is expensive! Even with coupons. I love Tide as much as the next person but when a large bottle costs $28.00 and I can use all of it in a month it's too much! The powder is usually cheaper but I found that using it cold water didn't work for me because it never dissolved all the way and I ended up with chalky residue on our clothes. Not cool!

I saw around that the "in" thing right now was to make your own laundry detergent. I was skeptical at first but as I started to read comments and reviews by others I thought it was worth giving it a try. Some said it worked really well for their kids who suffered from eczema. Since 3 of our 4 have eczema I thought, "Why not?!" The initial investment in all the ingredients seems like a lot but knowing that you will get multiple batches out of the same boxes makes it easier to swallow. There is also some time involved but I promise it's easy!

 I have found a formula that I am in love with and I wanted to share it with you. I shared it with my aunt over Easter. They have 5 kids and she does about as much laundry as I do so I knew this could save her money too. She messaged me on Facebook the other day and said she had been using the detergent and she loved it! She couldn't believe the results, especially because you don't have to use very much. It's my favorite thing so far this year! :-)

What you need: Purex Crystals (any scent-I love the blue one!), Borax, Arm & Hammer WASHING soda (some people will use both washing soda and baking soda. I have found this unnecessary, but the washing soda IS necessary!), Zote Soap (I like the pink!), and OxiClean (you could use a store brand too if you prefer.)

To make the soap you will need a cheese grater, a big mixing bowl and a blender or food processor (not shown). You will also need a 1 Cup measuring cup to measure the ingredients and a spoon to mix (I use a plastic spatula.)

You need a container to put it in. I used to just use old Purex Crystal bottles but I found the detergent clumped up in them. I found this great glass container at Wal-Mart and fell in love with it. I also love the little measuring cup.

Here's a close up although the quality isn't great. This is a little glass measuring cup from Anchor. It looks like a shot glass. It's probably meant as a liquid measuring cup but I use it for my detergent and it's worked out just fine. You can find one here at Amazon for $5.50. I think I paid around $5 for mine.

The first thing you will do is grate the soap. I use the medium shred side. This can take a few minutes and gives your arms quite a work out. But stick to it. My kids love to help with this part so I put them to work! lol

Use a measuring cup to add 1 Cup of Borax to the blender or food processor.

Add half of the soap flakes and then top with 1 Cup of washing soda and 1 Cup of OxiClean. Pulse the mixture until the soap has been blended in with the other dry ingredients.

It should look fine and powdery. Put into large mixing bowl. Do another batch in the blender. Add to mixing bowl.

Add in your Purex Crystals. I use anywhere from 2-3 Cups of these, depending on how strong I want the scent to be on my clothes. Mix it all up.

Pour in your cool container. Voila! Sit back with a cup of tea and enjoy your handiwork!

Isn't it pretty?!?

So, don't worry if you didn't get the recipe by reading that! Here it is in it's entirety!

2 C Borax

2 C Arm & Hammer WASHING soda

2 C OxiClean

1 bar of Zote soap

2-3 C Purex Crystals (depending on your preference)

1. Grate soap.

2. Add dry ingredients (EXCEPT for Purex Crystals) to the blender or food processor in layers and small batches. I like to do two batches and put in a layer of dry ingredients, then soap flakes, then more dry. This keeps the soap flakes from sticking to the blades of the appliance (believe me...this just makes a mess!!) Pulse until everything is combined and powdery.

3. Put in large mixing bowl. Add Crystals in the amount you choose. Mix well.

4. Put detergent in container of your choice. 

5. Use 1 Tablespoon for a regular size load. Use 2 Tablespoons for a large or heavily soiled load.

A few notes:

1.When I first started making my own detergent I used Fels Naptha soap (made by Purex) because that's what I found first. Those bars are smaller so if you can only find Fels Naptha you will need 2 bars of soap instead of 1. I like the smell of the Zote better, but some prefer the smell of the Fels Naptha, it's just a fresh, clean smell.

2. Purex Crystals are NOT fabric softeners. I always thought they were but they are scent enhancers, just like the Downy Unstoppables or the Gain Fireworks. You can choose to use Unstoppables or Fireworks if you would like. I used the Unstoppables in the second batch that I made but they started to discolor and turn brown after a while. I don't know if this was from extra exposure to oxygen (maybe from the OxiClean) but it didn't look very pretty and it bothered me. The Purex Crystals haven't done this. And I like the pretty look better :-)

3. Because the crystals are not a fabric softener I still use distilled white vinegar as a softener. I just add it directly to the softener distributor in my washer. I know others who put it in a dispenser in the machine like the Downy Ball. 

4. If you want to try this out without making so much start with half a bar of Zote soap (or 1 bar of Fels Naptha), 1 C of each of the dry ingredients, and 1 C of the crystals. A formulation like this lasted me about 6 weeks. That was enough time for me to determine if I wanted to make changes or not. For example, when I first started I didn't use OxiClean or scent enhancers. The 2nd batch I added those things but used the Unstoppables, which I mentioned I wasn't thrilled with. The third batch I switched to Zote soap (because that's what I could find, I wasn't intending to do this!) and I switched to the Purex Crystals. This is my favorite formula so far!! 

5. How long will this last me?? Well, that depends on how much laundry you do. Like I said I do at least 3 loads a day most of the time, 5 days a week. If you only do a 3 or 4 loads for the whole week, halving the recipe could last you 3-4 months. I expect this doubled recipe will last me 3-4 months, but it could last you 6-7 months. It's all relative to how much laundry you do. I do all super sized loads, so I almost always use 2 Tablespoons at a time. I made this last batch the week before Easter...I've barely put a dent in it so far! 

6. How much will this cost? That's a hard one too because it depends on where you get all of your ingredients at. According to Amazon all of the ingredients right now would run you about $42.87. But again, except for the soap you will get at least 3-4 batches of soap out of each box of the Borax, Washing Soda, about 2- 2 1/2 batches out of the OxiClean, and about 1 1/2 batches out of the Crystals. I figured I am probably making this and spending about $0.20- $0.25 a load. With Tide I'd be spending about $0.38 a load so that is a definite savings. And it lasts me a whole lot longer than a bottle of Tide would. So that's awesome. Plus, I'm LOVING the way it smells!

7. Can I use this in my front loader? Yes, yes you can! The Zote Soap and Fels Naptha are low sudsing soaps, which is exactly what you need to use in a front loader. I have read some people saying this gums up their detergent dispenser so they just started adding it directly to the drum and then added their clothes and it works fine. I still have a top loader so I can't give you much more information about that but I've read people have used it in front loaders with no problems. 

8) I use the blender, cheese grater, etc. that I use to cook with. Some people might freak out about that but I figure I use a lot of the same ingredients in my dishwasher detergent recipe so they come in contact with our utensils anyway. All the ingredients rinse off really clean and I see no residue after I clean them that concerns me. If it concerns you you can invest in appliances just to make cleaning products but I find that very expensive and not necessary! 

So there it is! My laundry detergent recipe. We love it! It gets everything out (even stubborn baby explosions!!) when I am diligent about pretreating stains like I should and it smells wonderful. I don't know that I will ever go back to commercial laundry detergent ever again!!

I'm still tweaking my dishwasher detergent. I loved it at first, but I'm not loving it as much right now. Once I get that perfected I will share it with you too! Happy cleaning!!

Baking Bread

One of the things that I knew I was going to have to do when we decided to change our eating habits and go to eating more whole foods was make my own bread. Bread is so simple, 6 ingredients or less for a basic bread. The most time consuming part is mixing it, you don't have to do anything during the rising stage, and that's the longest part, aside from the actual baking of it in the oven. So have you ever asked yourself why even the "healthiest" breads on the market have upwards of 30 ingredients?!? Sounds like a lot of crap and fillers to me and I just am not sure I want to be eating all of that! (Don't believe me, go pull your bread out of the cabinet. I have an older loaf that I'm going to be turning into bread crumbs. Looking at the label it has 32 ingredients on it, most of which I cannot pronounce!)

When I was growing up we never had store bought bread in our home. My mom was a stay at home mom and she baked bread every day, to every 2 days (she also ran a daycare from home so we could easily go through 2 loaves a day!). I had never had store bought bread until I started school. And my mom clearly remembers me coming home and telling her that I wanted to start eating the "gooey white bread" like we had at school. What was I thinking!?! Clearly I didn't know I had a great thing going!! lol

Now, let me take a minute to make a little disclaimer here. I have a few friends who read my blog who work outside of the home. I think I make them feel bad when I write about these things that I'm doing (like baking my own bread, or making my own baby food) and they think they must be failing somehow because they aren't doing those things too. Well, let me just say this: if I worked outside of the home, I can promise you I wouldn't be doing any of this stuff!! I wouldn't have the time or the energy! And when I was at home I would want to be spending time with my kids and my husband, not be in the kitchen baking bread or mixing up my own laundry detergent (post coming soon!) But, being a SAHM this is my job! My job is to save as much of my husband's (and mom's) hard earned money as possible. My job is to put made from scratch meals on the table. My job is to keep the house clean, the laundry in check and the kids happy. I know for a fact I couldn't do all of that and do what you do! Know that you have my respect! Because being a working momma is hard! And I am so grateful to have a husband (and mom) who provide for us so that I get to stay at home with my kiddos!

And for those of you wondering if making your own bread really saves you money, I'm estimating that I make this bread for about $0.75 a loaf. Not too shabby seeings that the bread I used to buy was over $3.00 a loaf!!(Again, why so expensive?!? It's bread for Pete's sake!!)

OK. So onto the bread! This is a recipe I found in my mom's recipe box. It is delicious and makes two loaves. And just in case you're wondering if it's any good (besides the fact that I just said it's delicious!!!) take a look at the recipe card. At some point it got torn in two pieces and was stapled back together! Now that is a well loved recipe!!

And this is a recipe card from the '80's if I've ever seen one! lol

Ingredients:
4 C white flour (I use All Purpose flour that we have started buying in 25 pound bags from GFS. Have I mentioned my love of GFS lately!?!?)
2 C Whole Wheat Flour (I use King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour. It's made from white winter wheat instead of red winter wheat which my family prefers. It makes a less dense bread. And it has more of the texture of store bought bread that they are used to. It's also very good with the red winter wheat. I actually prefer that, but that's what I grew up with!)
4 TSP salt (Here comes my disclaimer...if you use salted butter like I do at times you will want to reduce the salt by half. Or else you end up with a salty bread. And I don't know about you but I don't like salty bread!)
2 1/2 TBSP yeast (I use instant active dry yeast which I keep in a bag in my freezer. I've had this yeast for over a year now and it's still going strong!)
2 1/2 C warm water (be sure it's warm...too hot and it kills your yeast, not hot enough and your yeast won't "bloom".)
sugar (I don't have a measurement for this...you'll see why in a minute.)
1/3 C honey
1/4 C butter, softened (salted or unsalted, your choice! Just remember what I said about the extra salt!!)

Alright, here we go!! Put on your apron (no, I'm serious! Making bread is messy, messy work!!) and let's get to work!

In your mixing bowl add the 2 1/2 C warm water, 2 1/2 TBSP of yeast and a few pinches of sugar. The sugar isn't 100% necessary but I find it helps the yeast to "bloom" by giving it something to "feed" off of. Another trick I have found: before I add the water I run warm water into the mixing bowl to warm it up. Adding warm water to a cold bowl seems counter productive to me. Just don't get the bowl too hot or you'll warm up your water even more and kill your yeast! 

While the yeast is blooming (about 5+ minutes) mix together your dry ingredients. I usually add my white flour (running it through a sifter to get rid of any lumps), my wheat flour (again, running it through a sifter), and then my salt. Then I mix it together with a spatula and set to the side.

Depending on how long it takes you to measure and sift and mix your dry ingredients your yeast may now be looking like this:

See how it's looking foamy, especially around the edges of the bowl? Perfect! If it isn't doing this your yeast might have died. Try again with cooler/warmer water (depending on the water temp the first time around). If it still doesn't bloom your yeast might be too old.

Now's the messy part. Put on your dough hook and make sure you add your splatter guard to your mixer if you have one...you'll be really glad that you did! Trust me! (And I wasn't kidding about that apron!!)

My mom's beautiful Kitchen Aid Mixer! She doesn't have room in her kitchen for it and I was always going downstairs asking to borrow it so she just told me to keep it up here. It maintains a permanent spot on my counter! I love it! She's had this thing for almost 20 years and it's still going strong!! Love Kitchen Aid!!!

Add half of the dry mixture to the water and yeast and mix on medium low. Add in your honey and your butter. Continue mixing on medium for about 2 minutes. Add the rest of the dry mix and continue mixing until fully mixed together, scrapping down the sides as needed. I know it's ready when it starts climbing up my dough hook and out of the bowl! lol Don't forget to use the lock feature on the mixer head! It'll keep the mixer from shaking and banging around!

Dough climbing the dough hook! See, I wasn't kidding! It tries to escape!

Perfect! Nice and doughy!!

Now comes the most time intensive part of making bread: letting it rise. This part really does take the most time. Luckily it requires no work on your part. So go do some laundry, clean a bathroom, organize a cabinet, make some phone calls, pay some bills, feed a baby...you get the idea. 

The first rise can take anywhere from 30-50 minutes (depending on how warm your house is.) You know it's ready when the dough has doubled in size, or has pretty much filled up the entire bowl. My bread hardly ever takes 30 minutes to rise, but we keep it at 72 degrees during the day in the winter, so it's pretty warm in here.

Put that apron back on because here comes another messy part. Sprinkle flour on the counter:

Plop the dough in the middle of the flour:

Roll around a little and then cut in half. (I use my Pampered Chef bread knife to cute my dough. It works perfectly every time!!)

Shape each half into a loaf:

Place into a greased bread pan:

And get ready to let it rise...again! I wasn't joking when I said this was the most time intensive part! Go ahead and preheat your oven to 375 degrees. When the bread has reached the top of the bread pan it's time to go into the oven. (This second rise can take anywhere up to 50-60 minutes. I've never had it take that long before, but again it depends on how warm your house is.)

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until golden brown. I immediately run a stick of butter over the top of my bread to give it that pretty glossy glow!

Allow to cool for a little bit and then take out of the pans and put on a cooling rake to finish cooling. But don't let it get too cold before cutting a piece and slathering it with butter and honey! That's your reward for all your hard work!

Enjoy!

**Linking up to the Homemaking Link-Up at Raising Homemakers**