Far beyond the "buy on sale using a coupon" advice, there are several ways to save money on laundry detergent. One is to simply use less - way less. If you've cut back on using full scoops, that's the first step, but try this: Take a small item fresh from the washing machine and put it in a bowl of clear water. Swish it around a few times. Is the water still clear? If not, the chances are that you're using too much detergent. That excess detergent traps dirt and odors and can irritant your skin as well as cost you real money.
What to do? It's not cost effective, but you can do a double rinse each time, or you can cut back on detergent, or both. Being frugal, I prefer to cut back on detergent even more instead of wasting water rinsing out something that apparently isn't necessary to have in there.
Another solution (or an additional step) is to do a load now and then with no detergent at all. If your laundry is like most, there is enough detergent to do the job in the laundry itself plus some trapped in the washing machine. Try a load and you will see. It may seem all kinds of wrong to do that (I won't tell anyone if you do), but you might be amazed that your clothes seem to be just as clean as if you'd loaded the machine with detergent.
Of course, you can't wsah every time without detergent, but a load now and then won't hurt at all.
Another thing you can do, especially for dark clothes, is to wash them with a squirt of cheap dish washing liquid. A small squirt, mind you (about a tablespoon's worth), you don't want the laundry room flooded with suds. Dish washing detergent leaves fabrics soft and it cleans oils and surface dirt well.
I have made laundry detergent from the few "recipes" you can find online and I've used very generic detergent with more filler than detergent but using much less detergent to begin with and simply washing a load without detergent at all every third or fourth time, makes saving on detergent simple and easy.
Showing posts with label laundry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label laundry. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Friday, January 5, 2018
About That Frugal Laundry Detergent
Making your own laundry detergent has probably brought about more questions than any other frugal ploy since this site began.
Is it hard to do? Does it work? What is washing soda? Where can I find the ingredients? How much can I save?
I'll attempt to answer those questions and give you a better idea of how to go about it and what to expect. You can post your further discoveries or questions to the Frugal Living Forum and expect a good answer.
Washing soda
Washing soda should be in the laundry section of your grocery store. It comes in a yellow box, made by Arm & Hammer, but it's NOT baking soda. If you're interested, washing soda is Sodium Carbonate (Na2CO3), baking soda is Sodium Bicarbonate (NaHCO3), and borax is Sodium Tetraborate Decahydrate (Na2B4O7*10H2O), all different chemical compounds.
If you can't find it locally, call this number: 1-800-524-1328. It's the Arm & Hammer number and they should be able to tell you where the closest place is that you can find it. There are places on the internet where you can order it, but shipping costs will eat up a portion of your savings, so that would be a last resort.
Borax
Some recipes call for borax, which comes in green box. The most popular brand is called 20 Mule Team Borax. This has been around as a cleaning aid for many years and is also known as an inorganic pesticide and herbicide. Borax is a naturally occuring substance used for cleaning and whitens and lightens clothing.
The "20 Mule Team" comes from the fact that borax was mined in Death Valley in the 1800's and hauled out of the desert by 18 mules and 2 horses at a time. Two wagons loaded with borax and a wagon carrying 500 gallons of water traveled over 165 miles of desert in 10 days. That's probably more than you wanted to know, but it was quite an enterprise at the time.
Bar soap
You can use any bar soap you like to make it, but what is probably the original recipe used Fels Naptha, a old stand by - the yellow soap your grandmother grated into her wringer washing machine. They still make it and it's still good:
Fels Naptha The one and only, yes!
How to do it
Some people shave the bar of soap into a pan of hot water and stir until it's dissolved, but there is a lazy way to do it. Break or cut up the bar soap and put it in a pan of warm water one night. Let it set over night, then stir until it's dissolved. Heat it if it's stubborn, but it won't take nearly as much time or stirring this way.
For those of you who are outside the US, put about 10 - 12 litres of hot water in a bucket and, after adding the dissolved soap bar, add 250 ml washing soda, and half that of borax (if you use it).
After the soap is dissolved, put about three gallons of hot water into a large container. Add the soap, stir in well, then add a cup of washing soda, stirring until dissolved. If you want to use borax, now is the time to add a half cup or so.
Set the whole thing aside until it cools, when you'll discover a gelatinous mass, vaguely of the same color as the bar soap you used. Depending on the strength of your soap and how much water you used, you'll need 1/2 to 2 cups of this laundry soap for each laundry load.
How much it will cost
It's easy to figure how much you'll save this way. Add up the cost of the bar of soap, divide the cost of washing soda by six (that's about how many cups are in a regular size box), add that, then figure the cost of borax the same way. (There are about eight cups in a regular size box of borax.) Now divide that figure by 48 which is how many cups are in three gallons.
Example:
One bar of Fels Naptha soap - .79
1/6 of $1.99 box of washing soda - .33
1/16 of $2.49 box of borax - .16
TOTAL 1.28
(Note: Prices were from a few years ago and have probably changed, but so have "regular" laundry detergent prices. You can get a good idea of prices by looking for the product on the internet.)
Divided by 48 = .0266 or less than 3 pennies a cup.
Does it save you money? How many cups are in the box of detergent that you normally use? Yes, you'll have to measure them yourself. Just pour it, cup by cup, into a measuring cup and then into a large container, counting the cups. When you know how many, divide what you paid for it by that much. Ouch, huh?
The only thing left to figure is that if you use half the recommended amount, halve the cost per cup and that's how much a load of laundry costs you with your present detergent.
I will bet that it costs more than 3 cents.
Is it hard to do? Does it work? What is washing soda? Where can I find the ingredients? How much can I save?
I'll attempt to answer those questions and give you a better idea of how to go about it and what to expect. You can post your further discoveries or questions to the Frugal Living Forum and expect a good answer.
Washing soda
Washing soda should be in the laundry section of your grocery store. It comes in a yellow box, made by Arm & Hammer, but it's NOT baking soda. If you're interested, washing soda is Sodium Carbonate (Na2CO3), baking soda is Sodium Bicarbonate (NaHCO3), and borax is Sodium Tetraborate Decahydrate (Na2B4O7*10H2O), all different chemical compounds.
If you can't find it locally, call this number: 1-800-524-1328. It's the Arm & Hammer number and they should be able to tell you where the closest place is that you can find it. There are places on the internet where you can order it, but shipping costs will eat up a portion of your savings, so that would be a last resort.
Borax
Some recipes call for borax, which comes in green box. The most popular brand is called 20 Mule Team Borax. This has been around as a cleaning aid for many years and is also known as an inorganic pesticide and herbicide. Borax is a naturally occuring substance used for cleaning and whitens and lightens clothing.
The "20 Mule Team" comes from the fact that borax was mined in Death Valley in the 1800's and hauled out of the desert by 18 mules and 2 horses at a time. Two wagons loaded with borax and a wagon carrying 500 gallons of water traveled over 165 miles of desert in 10 days. That's probably more than you wanted to know, but it was quite an enterprise at the time.
Bar soap
You can use any bar soap you like to make it, but what is probably the original recipe used Fels Naptha, a old stand by - the yellow soap your grandmother grated into her wringer washing machine. They still make it and it's still good:
Fels Naptha The one and only, yes!
How to do it
Some people shave the bar of soap into a pan of hot water and stir until it's dissolved, but there is a lazy way to do it. Break or cut up the bar soap and put it in a pan of warm water one night. Let it set over night, then stir until it's dissolved. Heat it if it's stubborn, but it won't take nearly as much time or stirring this way.
For those of you who are outside the US, put about 10 - 12 litres of hot water in a bucket and, after adding the dissolved soap bar, add 250 ml washing soda, and half that of borax (if you use it).
After the soap is dissolved, put about three gallons of hot water into a large container. Add the soap, stir in well, then add a cup of washing soda, stirring until dissolved. If you want to use borax, now is the time to add a half cup or so.
Set the whole thing aside until it cools, when you'll discover a gelatinous mass, vaguely of the same color as the bar soap you used. Depending on the strength of your soap and how much water you used, you'll need 1/2 to 2 cups of this laundry soap for each laundry load.
How much it will cost
It's easy to figure how much you'll save this way. Add up the cost of the bar of soap, divide the cost of washing soda by six (that's about how many cups are in a regular size box), add that, then figure the cost of borax the same way. (There are about eight cups in a regular size box of borax.) Now divide that figure by 48 which is how many cups are in three gallons.
Example:
One bar of Fels Naptha soap - .79
1/6 of $1.99 box of washing soda - .33
1/16 of $2.49 box of borax - .16
TOTAL 1.28
(Note: Prices were from a few years ago and have probably changed, but so have "regular" laundry detergent prices. You can get a good idea of prices by looking for the product on the internet.)
Divided by 48 = .0266 or less than 3 pennies a cup.
Does it save you money? How many cups are in the box of detergent that you normally use? Yes, you'll have to measure them yourself. Just pour it, cup by cup, into a measuring cup and then into a large container, counting the cups. When you know how many, divide what you paid for it by that much. Ouch, huh?
The only thing left to figure is that if you use half the recommended amount, halve the cost per cup and that's how much a load of laundry costs you with your present detergent.
I will bet that it costs more than 3 cents.
Monday, October 12, 2015
Why You Should Use Less Laundry Detergent
Manufacturers' scoops are bigger than you need! As a matter of fact, most laundry will come clean with about half the recommended amount of detergent. Try it yourself and see. Be aware, though, that your washing machine probably holds enough detergent to wash a load without adding any.
As a matter of fact, it's a good idea to run a load of laundry through your machine without adding detergent now and then, especially if you've been using the recommended amount, but even if you haven't.
Why should you use less?
As a matter of fact, it's a good idea to run a load of laundry through your machine without adding detergent now and then, especially if you've been using the recommended amount, but even if you haven't.
Why should you use less?
Monday, May 3, 2010
My new frugal laundry machine
The basement in this house has a set of old granite laundry sinks. I don't know how much they hold, but it's probably around 40 gallons each. It's a perfect setup, just the way it was planned to use a wringer washer.
Ok, so you're not interested in actually using a wringer washer. That's old fashioned, anyway. I mean, now you have an automatic washer that you throw clothes in and just wait... and wait... and wait. Eventually, it does all the work for you. And if you miss a stain, oh, well. You can just buy some stain remover. Or buy some new clothes. After all, you just bought maybe a hundred gallons of water.
I know most of you are not convinced. Wringer washers do take a little more of your time instead of just time, but they take less time to do a load. They take a little more energy and work to do that load, too (but I know the modern way is to pay the gym to get your exercise).
Still with me? I already wrote about the benefits of using wringer washers and a little more, too:
The Ultimate Frugal Laundry Machine
What to Look for in a Wringer Washer
How to Properly Set Up and Use a Wringer Washer
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