Monday, June 03, 2013

Do you make your own?

Some days I start to wonder if I'm the only stay at home mom who isn't making her own laundry detergent.  When I first read about the idea, it triggered the "you can do that?!" portion of my brain just long enough for me to track down and read the instructions, then I gave up on the idea. Even with as much laundry as I do, buying a big jug of detergent at Costco every few weeks isn't a big deal.

So when I saw that you could make your own foaming dish soap refills, I didn't pay much attention to the idea. I do a ton of dishes (think three meals a day for six people and no dishwasher) and I'm picky about my dish soap.  The foaming stuff lets me wash more dishes with less soap, and it rinses better so I'm using less water.


But I go through it fast. Everyone in the house uses it for washing hands, even when there's actual hand soap in a pump right beside it.  The grocery store doesn't always have it in stock. (They run out of the strangest stuff -- some days I think they're deliberately messing with me!) and some days I'm desperate and wind up settling for a bottle of the cheap stuff just so I can do the dishes until my next trip to the store.

That's how I wound up trying the DIY approach. I had an empty pump and was down to almost the last of the good stuff ,so I figured I had nothing to lose.  I poured about an inch of cheap dollar store dish soap into the empty pump, then gently filled it the rest of the way to the line with water. I swished it a bit to mix, then pumped.

It works! It's not as good as the brand name stuff (maybe I'd get better results if I wasn't using bargain detergent to make it with), but it's still nicer to use than the plain dish soap. And I've got a secret plan -- the good stuff goes under the sink for actual dish-doing, and the fake foaming soap goes on the counter for everything and everyone else.

Do you make your own laundry detergent or foaming dish soap? Bake from scratch? What's just too crazy for you to try making yourself?

I'm linking up to WFMW at We are THAT Family, Mop it Up Monday at I Should be Mopping the Floor. I Gotta Try That, Give Me the Goods, How To Tuesday,

9 comments:

Teri said...

I'm with you on the crazy amount of laundry. I do make my own liquid soap because it is so inexpensive and takes about 10 minutes. That leaves more for my quilty budget.

Brenna said...

I tried the homemade laundry detergent - I am not a huge fan. It was really easy, but I don't think it gets the clothes as clean. So I went back to the boxed stuff.

Mallorie Anderson said...

We use homemade detergent, I also add a cup of vinegar to every load. The homemade seems to work just fine for us. I like that we can use it in our HE washer. Don't make the dish soap though, we have a dishwasher.

Jocelyn said...

I've never made the detergent, but I do like to make my own foaming soap. Those bottles are pricey, so making it stretch was a good option. I keep them in each bathroom, so they do stretch the soap a lot.

Jocelyn said...

I've never made the detergent, but I do like to make my own foaming soap. Those bottles are pricey, so making it stretch was a good option. I keep them in each bathroom, so they do stretch the soap a lot.

Jo said...

I love the homemade laundry soap...but I am not real picky about laundry like some people are. Clean is clean to me.

Renee said...

I make my own liquid laundry detergent (Dugger's recipe), powdered dish washer detergent, lotion bars, and deodorant. I think people forget that smelling good doesn't equal clean. When you make your own soap, it doesn't smell nearly as strong as what you buy at the store, and so many people think that means it doesn't clean as well.

MIchelle @ Moms Are Frugal said...

I do make my own laundry detergent, and have recently started to make my own tootpaste. That is a test right now to see if it is cheaper and better. I am going to try your dish soap method because I could have a huge bottle of sanitizer on the counter and they would use my dish soap!

Ranch Wife said...

I don;t make my own laundry detergent simply because we are REALLY dirty. LOL. Ranch clothes are really tough to get clean and Tide is the only thing I have found that does a good job. However, I am really interested in that foaming dish soap. I don't buy it because it is so expensive. I'm picky about dish soap too. I use Dawn, but the inexpensive, original stuff. Would you mind sharing your recipe? No dishwasher here either. :)

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