In trying to find ways to live life a little more frugally, I decided to try making my own laundry detergent. When I started, I was using 1 cup of Fels Naptha bar soap (ground up in my food processor), 2 cups Borax, 2 cups Washing Soda, and I was throwing that all together in a plastic tub and using 2 tablespoons of the mix with each load of laundry. I wasn’t quite satisfied with the results, so I started adding some baking soda to the loads, and that helped quite a bit at first.
Well, I ran out of Fels Naptha but really needed to make detergent and do laundry, so I made a small bath with 1 cup Washing Soda, 1 cup Baking Soda, and 1 cup Borax. Thinking that since I didn’t have my Fels Naptha in there I needed to add more, I bumped my tablespoons to 3 per load. I’ve been very happy with the results – happy enough to not feel like I need to use the Fels Naptha at all.
Seeing that this worked, for a much cheaper price than regular laundry detergent, I began wondering what else I could use these ingredients for. So I started using ½ cup Borax, ½ Washing Soda, and ½ cup Baking Soda mixed together for my dishwasher. I add 1 tablespoon per load, and ½ cup of vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher and my dishes come out super clean. You can’t leave out the vinegar though – it keeps the dishes from coming out with a while film on them.
I use a spray bottle with ½ vinegar, ½ water in it to clean my counters, table, school desks, kids toys, floor, and the bathrooms too. It’s a natural cleaner that I know won’t hurt my kids, and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, either. It works great every time I use it. Don’t worry about the smell either – as soon as it dries the smell is gone. It’s worth it to me to smell vinegar for a while if I know I’m not hurting our lungs and other organs with harsh chemicals.