Homemade Powdered Laundry Detergent

I found several homemade laundry detergent recipes online, and I've been washing my own laundry using just this basic recipe.  I have really dry & sensitive skin and prefer this over any "free" detergents on the market.  I haven't noticed any dulling or issues getting stains out.  I have never used anything but liquid detergents since I had babies in the house.  So, I was nervous switching to the powder.  But I prefer this over the liquid now.  I put one scoop(1 Tbl.) into the detergent compartment for my HE front loading machine.  My clothes smell really nice, it's not overpowering.  I LOVE doTerra Essential Oils, Lemon, Wild Orange, or Lavender, or a combination.  I buy mine from my sweet friend Crysty, HERE.

Basic Recipe:

1 cup Borax

1 cup Washing Soda

1 bar Kirk's Castille Soap(or Fels Naptha)

10-15 drops doTerra Lemon Essential Oil

The first time I made this I used Fels Naptha soap, it's a large yellow bar, found in the laundry aisle, and specifically designed for laundry.  It's really hard and took some muscle to grate it.  I ordered the Kirk's Castille Soap online from Amazon.com, I love that site.  It was easier to grate and a smaller bar.  It's designed for use on people with sensitive skin and rinses clean.  It also has a coconut oil base.  Neither bars suds very much, so this is safe for the HE washers.  I have read you can also use Ivory soap or Dr. Bonners.  I chose to try using this powder recipe because it just seems a little more concentrated than the diluted down liquid recipes for homemade detergent.  Just a preference, I have no idea if one is better than the other.  

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 Grate the bar of soap on a sheet of wax paper and pour into the base of your food processor.  Add 1 cup Borax, 1 cup Washing Soda, and 10-15 drops of your favorite Essential Oil.  Process until very fine.  Your house will smell unbelievably clean right now.  

Divide the contents between 2 16oz. canning jars.  Use 1-2 Tablespoons, depending on how dirty your laundry is.  I have never used more than 1 Tbl.   

The jar on the left is the Fels Naptha version(which is why it's a little yellow in color), and the right is the Kirk's Castille soap recipe version.  Takes up so much less space.  Store extra jars above in the cupboard.   Use fabric softener if you wish, or a dryer sheet.  

This is my laundry treatment area.  Baskets and bar from Ikea.  

~Jen

Cheap and Easy Stovetop and Grates/Burner Cleaners

It works!!!

Minimal effort, patience, and cheap.  I have a combination stove top, it's ceramic and propane.  I don't really love it, but it came with the house.  It looks nice when it's clean, it looks beautiful when it's clean.  And all I used is baking soda(Part I) and ammonia(Part II)(not together, I'm sure there is some kind of warning about that). I've bought expensive stove top cleaners, eh.  My favorite by Scotch was discontinued years ago.  I tried baking soda, it's a mild abrasive, but cuts grease, and voila.  Just use a damp non-scratch abrasive pad and baking soda.  Baking soda costs nothing compared to store cleaners. 

I read HERE, about putting your stove top grates into a Ziploc bag with a little ammonia and letting it sit overnight.  Her pics were really amazing and I was willing to try anything.  Lemishine in the dishwasher helped a lot, but in the past I'd have to use oven cleaner to get the grates clean, and that was still a ho-hum result. Well, the ammonia in the bag worked.  I have double grates and they wouldn't fit in a Ziploc bag, so I just used a plain old plastic trash bag, poured a few Tablespoons of ammonia into the bag and then sealed it up by folding the end over and sealing with a clip.  Set them out on the porch overnight.  The grates do not need to be sprayed with the ammonia, it's the fumes from inside the bag that break down the gunk on the grates.  After 24 hours(I got busy), I pulled one out and DO wear gloves for this.  I took a sturdy dish brush and scraped off most of the black gunk(boy am I embarrassed for you to see how awful this thing was!).  I rinsed it off with hot water and poured a few Tablespoons of baking soda in the corner of the sink.  Use a non-scratch abrasive pad and pick up a little baking soda with it's wet corner.  It took very little scrubbing power and the rest of the cooked on crud was off in seconds!  Really, hardly put any effort at all into it.  And baking soda, what a great tool!  Baking soda has become my favorite cleaning product now next to Mr. Clean Erasers.  Oh, tried the Mr. Clean Erasers too on the stove top and grates, and it took several of them and they never really cleaned them as well as the baking soda and ammonia technique.

Before:

 

Put your grate into the bag and pour a little ammonia, I poured about 2 Tbls.

Fold the bag over and snap with a clippy.  Allow this to set overnight/24 hours or so in a nice warm sunny spot.  The fumes will break down nasty baked on food.  And don't ask me how, but I somehow got paint on one of mine, instantly came off after months of cooking it in even more. 

It does not come out as clean as what it pictured below.  Put some gloves on!  Get as much off with a scratch proof nylon brush, scrubby, sponge, etc...  At this point you will probably remember like me that you need to call to get your roots done.  Sprinkle some baking soda on the areas that still need a little TLC and scrub with brush or sponge.  Rinse and voila. 

After:

Check out that shine!  Baking Soda only baby :)

Just like new, back to the day we moved in 4+ years ago.

~Jen

dark nights

so joey's been complaining about not being able to sleep at night. he said he couldn't fall asleep. so we give him melatonin sometimes. then, he'd complain that his bedroom was too light. well, i fixed THAT problem! took me less than 30 minutes and he thinks it is way cool!