Detergents on the Cheap

I've always intended to write a blog spotlighting the Laundry Detergent Recipe I found years ago. Someone else beat me to it. Plus, they have recipes for Dishwasher Detergent, Shampoo and Conditioner. Why recreate the wheel.
Homemade recipes link
Curious? Here's the shopping list:

Lemi Shine (I've used this in the closed compartment of the dishwasher for years. We have hard water):

Kosher Salt
White Vinegar
Cider Vinegar

compare that with a shopping list of what you are replacing:
Dishwasher Detergent: $4-$12
Laundry Detergent: $4-$20
Shampoo $1-$8
Conditioner $1-$8
When I used the homemade laundry detergent, I washed my whites in Tide every few loads to whiten. Now I'd recommend throwing Borax in now and then. I do that anyway.

The other day I had to clean the grime off the dishwasher door to stop a leak, and I can honestly say the following load was the cleanest dish load we have had in years. I cannot wait to try the Dishwasher Detergent.

Add in a bar of Ivory Soap and you have the ingredients for laundry soap. But, if you would like a simple laundry soap, how about trying Soap Nuts. My neighbor told me about Soap Nuts.

                                            

They sound fun. Today she brought me a baggy of the nuts and I can't wait to try them. They are the meat around a seed of the Sapindus Mukorossi berry. They peel the meat off and replant the seeds. You can use each nut 4 times, then squeeze it to see if the white soap is still coming out. If so, you can use it some more. 4-5 nuts does 4 loads of laundry and they really cost very little. My friend said they come out costing less than Tide. But they don't have any chemicals other than the saponius, which is a natural extract of the fruit. Once you use all the saponius, they are safe to put in your compost heap.
More excitement? You can use the Soap Nuts to make shampoo, dish soap and cleanser (although once liquified they only last a few days). You can boil and soak the nuts, then use one batch for all these uses. I've ordered my Soap Nuts. Can't wait to try them.
My neighbor is at her house right now testing how to make her Soap Nuts form a gel by adding Knox Gel. I have high hopes because I'm a little leery of using a pure liquid to wash my hair.

Here is a way to cinch the belt in a little tighter which is fun. Making your own detergents and household cleaners is empowering. Products we thought nothing of buying all our lives are things we can create ourselves in minutes. The results are healthier cheaper and work just as well. Let me know what you think.

And He Loves Me Anyway

Don't worry, this really isn't a blog about love. It's about testing it. In my move to blog mostly with pictures, I have gone around the house and taken photos of all the projects I have in my docket. They are not really in any order, and I may have forgotten one or two (say, putting stone on our focus wall, which I don't have in the works yet). In the interest of full disclosure I admit I almost never craft this way. Just as I almost never read two books at a time, I almost never have more than two craft projects just sitting there. I do stack and sew an entire stack of projects in one sewing binge, which may be how I've gotten so behind. Because the top project in my docket is a quilt I've been working on since last February.

This project is a Nook Case for my Etsy shop. I have decided to sew on these everyday while my daughter practices piano. It's a modified Tiger Mother technique, since I've found she practices longer if I'm in the roome. It happened sort of serendipitously after I moved my sewing machine into the piano room.

My sewing corner: I cut out small projects on the piano (not recommended since I've scratched the top with a few pins). The tote is extra special: hand-knit by my sister-in-law, Melanie, then felted!

A little shirt for Mikey the Monkey, who you will meet later. This just needs snaps and buttons. Wouldn't take me one evening, and it's sitting on the front counter in the piano room, but I never think of it...

Did you see the cabochons in the first post? This is my stack of supplies on the kitchen counter for making them. I bought 5 bars of Sculpey, and I've gotten 6 cabochons out of half a bar of Sculpey, so this mess is going to be here a LOOOOONNNGGGG time.

This is the biggest problem. I think I'm half way done. It's ten feet long and in the very center of my living/diningroom. The cats love it.

My favorite: I love to take this little bag to piano lessons and I get 1/2 hour of uninterrupted crochet/knitting time!

Photo 2 of my knitting bag: it's sitting next to the kitchen on the floor. Did I mention I have a craft room?

The girls both want rain capes. I'm kind of excited about this project, but it's pretty far down on the list.

I love the Campy State pillows, but I was not paying $150 each for them! So I asked for the napkins for Christmas, and I'm going to embroider them myself. They will make a great Piano Time project.

My first crocheted flower for a scarf I'm making. I followed the directions, but I didn't count carefully. When my square came out as a (what's the five sided one?) I contacted the company that wrote the book. Then while I was waiting, I tried again. Ooops.  do you know they were actually contacting the author? So I emailed back very sheepish. NOW how do I turn this into a hat?

Meet Mikey. Charlie named him Mojo. I just need to tack his shoes on. Seriously. 4 tacks and he's still in my stack???

For my Etsy store, the main product was a doll that wears a sleeper. Everytime I list a doll, the person who buys it requests a different sleeper. So inside this tote I have about 10 little sleepers in different fabrics. I plan to sew them all up, list the doll and let them choose from what I have instead of running all over town trying to guess what they like. It turns out I'm getting old tastes.

In my craft room, several projects in bags on the floor which are shown below:

Wow! 5-6 projects right here in this little stack. Can't share what they are. It's a surprise.

A pillowcase to match the new quilt. I figure I have time!

A new project. I decided not to start this until after I have the quilt done. I'm going to card the giant bag of wool, spin it and dye it. I have to learn how to do all that, but the bit I tried is enormously fun and the feel of my hands after playing with the wool was amazing.

We had lunch with the family of a man Eric (my husband) mentored at work. His wife brought me this fabric from Burma. I think I'll make a skirt so that next time they invite us to a pig roast I can push harder to go. (I married a picky eater)

Wish me luck!