Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Homemade Laundry Detergent



There's something about mixing up your own household cleaner/detergent to make you feel very domestic! I've seen lots of blogs lately talking about going green in different ways including making your own cleaners. I knew that cleaners had lots of chemicals in them but if you really start looking at the ingredient lists, it's a little scary. I've had breathing issues after using bleach in cleaning and laundry and that's without any other respiratory issues. So while I'm not all 'save the planet, hug a tree,' I think that we should be good stewards of our environmental resources and if I can reduce the amount of chemicals in my house, that's got to be a good thing! In my quest to pinch some pennies and make our home a little 'greener', I found a recipe for homemade laundry detergent to try. (Thanks for sharing, Deana!)

I assembled my supplies: Borax, Baking Soda (I couldn't find Washing Soda), and Ivory soap. (It was on sale last week so I thought I'd try it.) I've seen other recipes that call for different brands of bar soap or adding some essential oils. I might try some variations down the road.

Using my handy-dandy KitchenAid mixer with the shredder attachment, I shredded the soap in about 2 minutes tops!

After shredding a bar of soap, I added 2 cups of Borax and 2 cups of baking soda to the bowl and mixed it up. Using my canning funnel, I put it all into my Ikea Burken jar.
Some measurement info for future reference:
Borax 4lb 12oz (76 oz) = 11 cups
Baking Soda 4lb = 8 cups
9" Ikea Burken jar = almost 2 batches of detergent
The little bit of extra detergent that didn't fit into my jar went into a spare canning jar. I also shredded the 3rd bar of soap since I had everything out. That went into a canning jar too.
Then, I gave all my tools a really good rinse in the sink and then washed them in the dishwasher to be sure to get all of the soap residue off.

So the real question.... does it work?? Yes! I think so. I've done 2 loads with some dirty, stinky clothes (no names will be mentioned to protect the not-so-innocent.) After they were dry, I gave those stinky things a good sniff test. I have to admit, I was really hesitant to breathe deeply but everything smelled clean and fresh, and a dusty, dirty shirt that was used doing lawn work came clean too. Making the detergent took all of 10 minutes and cost about $5.00 for about 155 loads of laundry. That's $0.03 per load compared to my regular detergent at $0.18 per load after using a coupon! But I shall not kick myself for not doing this sooner. There's no time like the present and plenty more laundry to come to make detergent for!


Isn't it pretty? I think a new project for my to-do list is a vinyl label for the jar. Then, perfection!

My fav places to link up.


This project was featured here

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Mr. and Mrs. Pillow Covers



This week, I tackled the next thing on the to-do list: Mr. and Mrs. pillow covers for our master bedroom. I've seen several versions of the Ballard Designs pillows.

Like the ones made by Knock Off Decor, Mrs. DIY, and here. Using the great 5-minute pillow cover tutorial from Restoration House, I cut Osnaburg fabric to size, sewed it up, and then tucked cardboard inside the flap so I could paint. I just used MS Word to print the letters to the size I wanted. Then, using the very old method of carbon paper (Do they still even sell that stuff? We have an old pack that's been hanging around forever!), I just traced over the letters with pencil. I used a brown craft paint and a small brush to paint them in. I haven't yet but should probably heat set them somehow so they can be washed. For now, they're in their new home so we don't forget who sleeps on which side of the bed.


Linking up here.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Being quite-a-bit Irish, it just seems fitting to honor St. Patrick's Day. We're not into the leprechaun and magical rainbows aspect of it but like honoring the testimony of a great man of God. See here for more info on Patrick.

To celebrate and give the house a much needed dose of spring, I got crafty!
On the front door, I refashioned a grapevine wreath. I added some greenery picks and a berry sprig that I had on hand and a green bow with ribbon from my stash. Using my Cricut, I cut out 4 hearts and a letter 'J' to make a shamrock and tied it to dangle in the middle of the wreath. That dresses up our pitiful front door. (Yes, it has a crack in it. Yes, you can see daylight through it. Yes, it IS on the list to be replaced as soon as possible!)


On our mantel, I added some brass candlestick holders, 2 green candles, a boxwood ball from the dining room, and an Irish blessing printable that I found online (and didn't save the link, so if it was yours, please let me know!)
 
And I made a rag garland with fabric and cording that I had in my stash. (I love 'free' craft projects!) Using inspiration from here, I cut fabric strips into 2"x8" pieces and tied and tied and tied and tied.

 

A touch of green on our dining room table and buffet adds some spring too. 



Here's where I party!
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