Today I made Laundry Soap (1/4 cent per load!)

[Guest DeborahC]

Here is the link in case anyone's interested:

Annie's Simple Life: DIY Soap for 1/4 CENT Per Load

[pam]

Well aren't you just Miss Becky Homecky. :)

It's awesome that you are doing all of these things.

[Backroads]

My coworker also made a bunch of Duggar soap. She raves about its efficacy and its cheapness.

[Vort]

Your blog is the best. I read your entry on toothpaste last night, and it got me to wondering if I could make toothpaste like you do, only add about 2% sodium fluoride. My dentist suggests I use high-fluoride toothpaste and charges me like $25 a tube for the stuff. I can buy 500 grams of sodium fluoride for the price of a few tubes of the dentist's toothpaste, which will last a looooooong time in homemade terms.

[Guest DeborahC]

Pam, it's what happens when you're retired and bored! lol

Backroads, I've heard a lot of great things about this laundry soap so I'll report back.

Thanks Vort.

I've found that pretty much everything I can make myself saves me a LOT of cash in the longrun.

Sometimes it doesn't work out.

We weren't too happy with the hot dogs, but then we don't eat hot dogs much anyway.

I think I should have bought a better brand, maybe.

The toothpaste is good, and works great for me. My teeth feel really clean. The thing is, it's definitely not like store-bought. It's probably best if you put it in a jar and "dip" the brush into it rather than into a tube. I have to add water occasionally, but I"m just used to it and would rather use this than the chemical-laden stuff from the store.

Also, there are a lot of great tooth-powder recipes out on the net.

They're a lot cheaper than toothpaste.

You can experiment.

[Backroads]

I must search your blog for a good dish soap recipe, if you've found one.

[Guest DeborahC]

I have one I'll be posting next week probably.

Most of my blog is on the Camino Santiago and the trips I lead there.

I had prepper blogs scattered here and there, but recently deleted them, and am reposting them so the Camino blogs flow better. I get a lot of traffic for that topic.

[Suzie]

DeborahC, you are amazing!

[Backroads]

Please post (or somehow notify me) when you blog about that!

[Wingnut]

I made my own dishwasher detergent a few weeks ago. I used this recipe (thank you, Pinterest): Being creative to keep my sanity: Dishwasher Detergent

I didn't use the lemonade powder, but used canning citric acid instead. Also, I didn't use Lemishine -- I have REALLY hard water, so I use chemical Jetdri instead (I made my own soap to save money, not to be organic).

My glasses are still spotty, but I'm okay with it for the everyday stuff. It's definitely less effective overall than commercial soap, I've noticed, but it gets the job done well enough.

[Palerider]

Here is the link in case anyone's interested:

Annie's Simple Life: DIY Soap for 1/4 CENT Per Load

My wife and I just got all the stuff to make soap just tonight...I think we are making it on saturday...she got the directions for making it at Relief Society a few weeks ago.

[Magen_Avot]

I'd like to scrub in on this one, but my minds a little foamy about the particular granules of this bubbly topic. I'm rough as borax on soapy solutions that you have slipped into the forums. I'm sure you could clean it up a bit though if you just add water and agitate the rest of us into a state of whiter whites while we spin our soiled souls free from dirt and grime. Have you considered adding a little softener for those of us with a desire for a fresh spin on our spiritual brightness?

Sorry, I'll have to change my cycle to things more delicate.

[Guest DeborahC]

Today I'm bottling the laundry soap. I'll post photos later today. It's turned into a thick gel. Interesting stuff!

[LilyBelle00]

I want to do this so bad! I'll have to start saving my empty bottles.

[Guest DeborahC]

The photos and blog on the laundry soap are up now.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

I just gave my neighbor a bottle to try as well.

We will report back!

Here's the link:

Annie's Simple Life: Bottling my Laundry Soap

[Palerider]

We made ours today...powder soap....it works great

[RAP93]

that's awesome. I don't have the patience to make my own stuff, LOL. But I admire people who do!

[MorningStar]

Thanks for this!

[Echo2002]

These recipes are awesome. I need to try them.

[Echo2002]

How long can the laundry soap be stored for?

[marshac]

Anyone here add TSP to their laundry? I add a teaspoon or so when I do whites... man... so clean. So clean in fact that it takes the stamped-on tags on hanes tagless shirts right off.

These. Gone.

[Guest DeborahC]

Spring girl, I'm not sure. This is the first time I've made it but I imagine it will last a couple of years if you keep it tightly closed. Or maybe share a recipe with a few friends?

I've never heard of tsp?

[marshac]

I've never heard of tsp?

This You can get it at home depot.

[Echo2002]

Since TSP is a deck cleaner, wouldn't it eventually destroy your clothes?

[marshac]

Since TSP is a deck cleaner, wouldn't it eventually destroy your clothes?

I believe the line between clean clothes and destruction of them hinges on how much you use. If you check out the reviews for the product on Amazon, you'll see that the majority of people are using it in their dishwashers and washing machines rather than their decks- I can't claim to take credit for using it this way- I simply heard about it and gave it a shot :)