getting into my dirty laundry ( long)

    I have been having more and more interest in making my own homemade cleaners since seeing several recipes on pintrest. I must confess hesitation, however,  because I wanted to be sure that it cleaned well.

 My first main concern...laundry soap. My husband and I only have about 4 loads (5 if you count army stuff)

between us a week and each of my kids does about 3. In just laundry that's 10 loads a week. Factoring in the cheaper brands like Gain, Arm and Hammer, or even the cheapest I have seen Xtra. Say the cheapest I have seen for a 70 load bottle may be $8.00 (conservatively) That's $16 every 2 months for laundry soap. That's about $96 dollars a year in CHEAP laundry soap. Well my friend Angela does way more laundry then I ever will (she has 5 kids) has tried several recipes for laundry soap and gave me a sample of the power one she tried and LIKED ( 5 kids ..again if she likes it I trust her judgement). 

I have to say I loved it! It does not leave my clothes smelling funny ( a problem some people have had when making their own soap) , it dissolved COMPLETELY in my washer even in cold water. ( That has been an issue with my machine since get go. ), and it does not make a lot of suds which makes it great for front loaders. It even looks pretty see?

To make your own go here for instructions, but since I started on cost that's where I am gonna finish. 

1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax $3.00

1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda- Found in the detergent aisle $3.00

1 (3 lb) Container of OxyClean- Found in the detergent aisle. (This is optional but I highly recommend adding it) $8.00

2 (14.1 oz) Bars of Zote Soap- Found in the detergent aisle (we chose to do pink for the scent but the white would be just fine. You can also use Fels Naptha) $2.00( you could use any bar soap Angela's sample had dove in it)

2 (2 lb)  ( or 1 4 Lbs. box) Boxes of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda- Found in the cooking aisle  $5.00

1-2 (55 oz) Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener- Found in the detergent aisle (This is 100% optional. ) $4.00

Plus I spent another $7 for a 5 gallon bucket to mix everything in. So total I spent about $32 dollars but since I only have to buy the bucket once $25. This made about 2.5 gallons of powdered soap.  To get a rough estimate the sample I got was a sandwich baggie. Using the non conservative 2 T of soap it lasted us 2 and a half weeks. Yes you read that right a sandwich bag of this stuff lasted as long as half a bottle of regular soap. The link says she did 40 loads and has only used half the bottle....that's 80 loads ( one bottle of cheap detergent) plus you have enough left over to fill it at least 4 more times. That's approx 320 loads for $25.00! If not more.  And let's face it for Tide or name brand detergent you are spending roughly $20 for one 148 load bottle.
Yup, I can do this and save my family roughly $50 bucks a year.  Heck that's like going to a free movie!
Next I need to tackle fabric softner but seeing as I just bought a huge bottle it may be awhile before you get reviews on that one.