Homemade

I have always liked to be able to make my own stuff at home, whatever I can, be it food, or anything else. About a week ago a friend on Facebook posted about making homemade laundry detergent. I forgot that this was something I was going to attempt a few months ago! With all the positive comments about it, from how little it costs, how long it lasts, etc, I did some math, and figured that I could have enough laundry soap to last my family of 3 for over a year, costing around $3! That's about how much I spend per month on laundry soap! Not to mention, it would be safer for this family of sensitive skin & eczema sufferers!

Then, I started wondering, what I else can I make? I've already started making my own bread and ketchup! I love to cook from scratch & want to make the girls and I more clothes. So, I looked up stuff and made a list of things, some I may try, some may not work out. I will post the list later, even update as I experiment in making the different things and how it turns out.

Today, I made my own dishwasher detergent. From the some of the same ingredients that will be used to make laundry soap and household cleansers(and I've used in the past in the laundry and household cleaning).

Before I mixed up the official batch, I just measured them directly in to the dishwasher (I had run out of dish soaps a couple days ago and had no money to get more until yesterday, so I needed to get some dishes cleaned fast). I measured 1/4 cup of washing soda, a couple tablespoons of both Borax and baking soda (until I had finished filling the soap compartment) and topped it off with about 1 teaspoon of Dawn. I put a small amount of all of this in the pre wash compartment, and poured vinegar in to the rinse compartment. I wasn't sure how this would turn out, but was pleasantly surprised! It turned out significantly better than when I use the cheap brand of dish washer detergent!

So, in a coffee can, I made a double batch recipie of this:

1 cup borax

1/2 cup each of baking soda and washing soda

When I put this in the dishwasher, I'm going to top it off with 1 tspn Dawn, and vinegar in the rinse.

Some directions said to use 2 Tblsps of the soap, but I'm going to experiment with somewhere between that and 1/4 and see what works best. This is definately going to be a money saver for my family on a very limited income! Not to mention safer for the environment! I think it might help with the build-up I have seen in the washer too. Wow! So many benefits!