Laundry on a Dime

With us being in the process of moving to our "new" home we have resolved to live life in our new home as green as possible.  Is this for everyone?  No, but it works for us.   People tend to associate going green and eating organic foods with money.  For some it can be expensive if you don't know what products to look for and where to find them. 

Over the past few weeks I've made a real effort to cut down the expenses in our household.  Since we cloth diaper we use quite a bit more detergent than most families.  Up until now Rockin' Green has been my go to detergent.  I used it for everything that I could because I loved the smell.  However, I loved knowing exactly what was in it even more.  I love Kim at Rockin' Green.  She has helped me through many, many a diaper dilema.  Yet, with us moving I can't afford the $30+ that we spent a month on laundry soap.  I figured this would be a great area to trim some expenses.  So, naturally, I decided to try making my own laundry soap.

I scoured the internet for a few weeks.  I researched recipe after recipe of homemade laundry detergent.  I couldn't find any that I thought would work well for regular laundry AND Aubrey's diapers.  I finally stumbled upon a recipe that I thought would work for our family.  It was so simple.  You just mix equal parts Washing Soda, Borax and Oxy Clean.  Now, I do realize that Oxy Clean is probably not the crunchiest thing out there.  However, compared to a lot of laundry boosters it is probably one of the crunchiest.  I even went as far to research the main ingredients in Oxy Clean.  Basically, it is sodium percarbonate and soda ash.  (both natural products) 

After making my first small batch of this wonderful powdered soap I gave it a shot on my diapers.  It worked wonderfully.  I decided that I would want soap that "stinks pretty" for my regular clothes.  What should I do?  I don't want a bunch of artificial perfumes in my laundry soap.  Naturally, I added some essential oils to the mix.  It took quite a bit of sniffing and experimenting to finally get the right ratio down.  I finally succeeded though and the result is wonderful!  My clothes are cleaner than they have looked in a long time and they smell great. 

Here is the recipe:

Dry Soap
Borax Powder
Washing Soda (both can be found on the laundry detergent aisle)
Oxiclean (I use the generic from Harris Teeter because it is always on sale.
Scented essential oils of your choice (my favorites are lavender/eucalyptus, mint/vanilla and lavender/mint)

Mix equal parts of this mixture into the container you want it in.  I lucked out and found a huge glass jar at the thrift store.  Once you get it mixed you can add the oils.  For a 55 ounce (each part) mixture I use 20 drops Lavender oil and 10 drops Eucalyptus Oil.  I didn't want the Eucalyptus to be overwhelming. 

REMEMBER:  It only takes 2 tablespoons the laundry soap to get your clothes clean!  Detergent companies have conditioned us to think that it takes a ton.  In reality, they do this to make money.  It takes a very small amount to get your clothes clean even with conventional soaps.

The good news.......the entire mix cost less than $7 including my awesome jar find.  That supply will last our family 6-9 months with cloth diapers.  If we didn't use cloth it would probably last closer to a year.

Intro

When I was pregnant I read an article about sustainable living.  It made a lot of sense to me that the writer decided to live their life in such a way that they didn't rely on Earth's natural resources.  Basically sustainable living is "going green."  Everywhere you go these days you hear about going green.  What does it mean?  Does it meant to dye your hair green?  (a resounding no in case you were wondering)

The phrase "going green" may mean different things to people.  To myself, going green means to live my life in such a way that I reduce the artificial things in my life and I try to provide a cleaner,safer future for the generations that will come after me.  I look at my daughter and I see all the reasons in the world there are to go green.  I don't want her to be exposed to things society may deem safe now, but in 20 years be found to be the cause of cancer.  I want to preserve what is left of this planet for her, her children and her children's children.

Is our family the greenest family in the world?  Absolutely not.  We still do some things that are incredibly not green.  I drive a mini-van that gets 20 mpg.  We leave the TV on overnight sometimes and I have been known to drink out of a Styrofoam cup or two.

This blog is about our efforts as a family to live a more green lifestyle and to save some money in the process.  Going green isn't always easy, but there is no reason you should go broke trying to do it.