DIY Dishwasher Detergent

             This past week I’ve shared the following cleaning recipes with you:  dry laundry detergent and fabric softener crystals.  Today I am going to share with you a recipe that I found online for dishwasher detergent. 

INGREDIENTS:

I c. Borax

1 c. Arm and Hammer Washing Soda

½ c. Coarse Kosher Salt

½ C. Lemon Shine Powder

DIRECTIONS:

           Mix ingredients together well.  I found that mixing them in a small food processor works best.

       The first time I made this recipe, I stirred the ingredients with a spoon and stored it in the bag that my old dishwashing tablets came in.  The next day, the recipe was hard as a rock.  I was pretty bummed about that.  I thought this recipe was gonna be a flop.  I think it may have been something to with the lemon shine mixing with the salt, but I’m not sure.  My husband said that we needed to keep the homemade detergent in an air-tight container, so I made a new batch and put it in a glass container.  It did better, but it still had the tendency to go from a crystal-like powder to a solid if I didn’t stir it up each day.  Since we only need to run the dishwasher every few days, this was a problem for us.  What I ended up doing was taking my second batch of detergent and running it through a small food processor.  This seemed to do the trick.  The food processor mixed the ingredients thoroughly and made the texture of detergent more of a powder.  I haven’t had any problems with the texture of the detergent since then.

            So, how does the DIY detergent hold up to store-bought dishwasher detergent?  I’d say it holds up well.  Our dishes appear to be getting clean and we haven’t noticed any residue left on the dishes.  I should say that we do, and always have, rinsed off our dishes before putting them in the dishwasher no matter what detergent we use.  Therefore, I don’t really know how this detergent works for crusty food left on dishes for several days.   For us, the detergent did the job just fine. 

            One last thing before I break down the cost of this recipe.  I want to breifly touch on one of the ingredients mentioned in today's post.....Borax.  Borax is controversial among many who make their own cleaning supplies.  Some say it is "toxic" and "harmful" while others say that is perefectly fine to use when making non-toxic homemade cleaners.  Even more confusing is the fact that Borax is listed as a main ingredient for cleaning recipes on almost every "green" website I've found.  I could list off several facts about Borax and give my opinion on it, but why do all of that work when someone else says it better than I ever could.  Go here to read more about Borax.  My PERSONAL opnion is the same as hers, and I will continue to use it around my house. You, however, will need to form your own opinion about Borax.

            Now that I've addressed that issue, let’s break down the cost of the detergent.  The cost of ingredients is as follows:  Borax (74 oz) - $3.38, Washing Soda (55 oz) - $3. 24, Coarse Kosher Salt (48 oz) - $3.19, and Lemon Shine (12 oz) - $3.66.  That's a total of $13.47.  The cost of each batch breaks down as follows:  Borax - $.35, Washing Soda - $.45, Coarse Kosher Salt - $.26 and Lemon Shine$.92.  That's a total of $1.99 a batch.  Using one tbsp per load, you should be able to get 48 loads out of one batch.  In our house of two, we only run the dishwasher once to twice a week, so I am only anticipating on making this detergent twice a year at most.  What a savings! 

          Before I close this post, I should also say that vinigar is a cheap, natural rinse agent.  I really can't stand the smell of vinigar, so I have not personally tried it.  I just thought I'd throw that little bit of info out there for those who may be interested in trying it;)

DIY Fabric Softener Crystals

            I mentioned in my last post that as I run out of store-bought cleaning products, I am replacing them with my own DIY version.  At the beginning of the week, I shared with you a dry DIY laundry detergent recipe.  Today, I’m going to share with you frugal, smell-good fabric softener crystals. 

            Store bought fabric softener averages anywhere from $4-6 a bottle for 32 loads.  My new DIY fabric softener cost $1.65 a batch for the same 32 loads.  Before I tell you what I use for my fabric softener, let me just say that in my research, I found there to be a few things that can be used as natural fabric softeners for the frugal soul.  One of those is baking soda.  It won’t leave your clothes scented, but it does supposedly make clothes soft and could possibly be the cheapest fabric softener out there.  I’ve also read that vinegar has been known to get laundry soft.  I personally can’t stand the smell of vinegar and try to avoid it when possible in my cleaning products, but it is a common natural fabric softener for many people.  The fabric softener that I chose to use is……Epsom salt.  Yep, I read that it makes laundry soft and you can also put essential oils in it to make it smell good.  It's also supposed to help with stains, so that's a plus.  Since my store-bought fabric softener of choice was Purex crystals, I decided to give Epsom salt a try.  Coarse sea salt is also supposed to work, but Espom salt is less expensive than sea salt. 

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups of Epsom Salt

40 drops of Jasmine Essential Oil

(Can be found at GNC or health food stores.  Any essential oil can be used.  I found the scent of jasmine resembled traditional fabric softner smells more so than other scents of essential oils.)

DIRECTIONS:

            This is hardly a recipe since it only has two ingredients, but here it is.  Mix one cup of Epsom salt with 10 drops of essential oils.  My container held four cups of salt, so I used 40 drops of oil per batch.  You don't have to use oil at all if you want a fragrance-free softener.  You can also use as much Epsom salt as you think necessary in a load of laundry.  Either way, you will still save money using Epsom salt instead of store-bought softener.

        Using the lid that I use for the Purex crystals, I will be able to get 32 loads out of my four cups of fabrics softener.  I should note that just like the Purex crystals, this recipe is to be added to the actual laundry in the washing machine before the wash cycle starts.  It does NOT go into the part of the washer labeled "fabric softener". 

      Now, the next question is "How did it work?"  I have to say that the results of the Epsom salt were good.  It succeeded in making my laundry nice and soft.  The only downside to my recipe was that I couldn’t really smell the jasmine in the finished laundry even though it was very fragrant in the actual batch of fabric softener I made.  I even tried adding a few drops of jasmine to the beginning of the wash cycle and still nothing seemed to make it smell as fragrant as the Purex crystals.  I may have some tweaking of this recipe to do in the future, but for now the results are good enough for me to finish this batch.

            Now  let’s break down the cost.  Cost of ingredients is as follows: one bag of Epsom salt - $1.98, one bottle of jasmine essential oil - $5.99.  That’s a total cost of about $8.  Cost of ingredients in each batch of fabric softener is as follows: 4 cups of Epsom salt - $.65, 40 drops of jasmine essential oil - $1.  That brings the cost of each batch of DIY fabric softener to $1.65 for 32 loads, compared to the $4.76 I was spending on my Purex Crystals.  Saving money on fabric softener was a sucess!!!  The next recipe I'm going to share is dishwasher detergent, so stay tuned folks. 

DIY Laundry Detergent (Dry)

A few months ago, I began looking into making my own cleaning supplies with the intent of saving money on our grocery bill.  I decided that as I ran out of cleaning products, I would replace each product with my own DIY version.  This week I will be sharing some of those recipes with you.

I’ll start by sharing the DIY dry laundry detergent that I have been using for a couple of months.  The following recipe is simple, and it smells good.  In my research, I found this to be a popular recipe among DIYers.  I have found that it leaves my laundry clean and fresh, and the cost of each batch is only $1.80!  It’s definitely a keeper for me!

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. Borax

1.c Arm and Hammer Washing Soda

1Bar of-Fels Napthia Soap

(all ingredients found in the laundry section of grocery store)

I used Fels-Napthia bar soap, because the purpose of that particular laundry bar soap is to get out stains. It is about $1 a bar. In my research, I found this to be the most common soap in DIY detergents. My recipe is the same as the Duggar's, and I figure that if this recipe fights the stains of that many kids, than it works for me. However, if you are looking to save even more money, you can buy regular bar soap, although I have no experience using it for this recipe. If you are looking to be more natural and organic, you can use Dr. Bonner bar soap. Just be aware that Dr. Bonner is around $5 a bar, and for me it defeated the purpose of saving money.

DIRECTIONS:

Before you begin, you will need a grater, a spoon, a measuring cup and a container to store the detergent.

Using a cheese grater, grate the bar soap into your container. I bought a cheap grater at Goodwill, and I only use it for making detergent….not cooking. Some people throw the grated soap in a blender or food process after they grate it to make the soap finer and more powder-like. I skip that step, and my detergent seems to work just fine. The texture of the detergent is more of a personal preference for some.

Once the soap is grated, add the soda and Borax and stir all of the ingredients together, and that's it!  Couldn't be easier:)

Now let’s break down the cost of this recipe.  The total cost of ingredients is as follows:  55 oz of washing soda ($3.24), 76 oz of Borax ($3.38) and one bar of Fels-Napthia ($1).  The cost of each batch of detergent breaks down as follows: washing soda ($.45), Borax ($.35) and Fels-Napthia ($1 a batch).  That’s a total of $1.80 a batch, compared to  the $5.99 I was paying per bottle of Purex.   Using 1tbs. of detergent per load of laundry, one batch of detergent yields 40 loads of laundry.  That is also the same amount of loads I get out of bottle of Purex. 

In our house of two, I only need to do three loads of laundry a week, so I go through a bottle of detergent about every three months.  Since one batch of the DIY detergent only filled about half of my jar, I doubled the recipe.  One jar of detergent = 80 loads = $3.60 for six months……and if I only need to make it twice a year that’s a year of laundry for $7.20! Yay for saving money on laundry! Mission accomplished!!!