Falling Into Place

It seems like now that we’re finally getting moved into our new house, things just keep falling into place for us. *knock on wood*

Thursday, as I was taking a break from moving and unpacking, I got a call from a former employer asking me if I want to come back to work for them. So I pretty much said “Hells ya I’ll come back to work for you guys!” They are a great company to work for. Mostly because I don’t have to wear a uniform, and I can dress up on Halloween! lol

So my interview was today. I had two interviews (one of the interviewer’s names was Thor, how cool is that?) and a drug test. Which, of course, I passed with flying colors. 🙂 So now I have a new house AND a new job! Hooray!

Next week I’ll be doing some more DIY’ing. I’m just too tired this week.

Always Wear A Mask!

I decided to make my first batch of powder laundry detergent today. It was pretty easy but, if you do this, remember to WEAR A MASK while making it! The soap particles will float up into the air and it really sucks to inhale them. lol

Me wearing my mask! 🙂

The soap I used (the green bar of Ivory) smells REALLY good too… can’t wait to use it on my laundry! I made this batch for both me and my mother-in-law to use. With how much she does the laundry, it should go rather quickly. 🙂

And I just realized how much I like to use smileys… hmmm.

Anyway, here’s the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 bar Ivory Soap

1/2 cup Borax (20 Mule Team is the best, you can find it at your local grocery store in the laundry aisle)

1/2 cup Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer, not to be confused with Baking Soda, you can also find this in the laundry aisle)

Equipment:

a cheese grater or a knife to grate the soap

a container to put your detergent in

Directions:

1. Grate the Ivory into the container you’ll use for the detergent. If you want a finer powder you can put your soap in a food processor AFTER grating it. Blend for a few seconds and it should be finely ground. 🙂

2. Pour your detergent back into the container you’ll be using. MAKE SURE YOU’RE STILL WEARING YOUR MASK! Put a 1/2 cup of Borax and a 1/2 cup of Washing Soda (again, NOT baking Soda!) into the container and SHAKE WELL!

Note:

You only need to use 1/8 of a cup of this per load. This recipe will make 16 loads, but you can tweak it to make more loads. Just double the ingredients (for example instead of using 1/2 cup of Borax and a 1/2 cup of Washing Soda, use 1 cup of Borax, and 1 cup of Washing Soda. Use 2 bars of soap).

THIS RECIPE IS A SUDS-FREE RECIPE, SO IT’S SAFE FOR HE WASHERS, AND YOU CAN USE IT AT ANY TEMPERATURE. 🙂

Easy, yes? I thought so too!

DIY Laundry Detergent

I’ve been getting recipes from far and wide for DIY laundry detergent lately, but I’ve been really hesitant about trying it at this moment. Mostly because my husband and I are living with his folks until our house is finished, and I didn’t know if she wanted me to use one of her pots for mixing soap, borax, and washing soda. But she recently started expressing interest in it when she found out just how much money we would save by making our own. So I found a recipe that doesn’t require you to put the borax and washing soda in the pot, you just mix it in a 5 gallon bucket. If any of you have tried this recipe and have hard water, please let me know how it worked for you! 🙂

DIY Laundry Detergent

from http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/15/how-to-make-your-own-laundry-detergent-and-save-big-money/

Ingredients:

1 bar of soap… the recipe on the website says you can use any kind you like, but most people use Fels Naptha.

1 box of washing soda, found in your grocer’s laundry aisle

1 box of borax… optional, but it’s a great laundry booster. Be careful of you use this.

a 5 gallon bucket with a lid, or a bucket that will hold more than 15 liters

3 gallons tap water

A big spoon to stir the mix

A measuring cup

A knife… be careful, don’t cut yourself!!

Directions:

1. Put 4 cups of water into a pot on your stove and turn the heat up to high until it’s ALMOST boiling. You don’t want to let it boil, otherwise everything will foam up really fast and make a huge mess. 🙂 As the water heats up, get your knife out and start whittling away at your bar of soap. Make sure you keep the water below a boil and keep shaving the soap. Do this until the whole bar is shaved up, then stir the soapy water until all the soap is dissolved.

2. Put 3 gallons of hot water (about 11 liters) into the bucket. I would think it’s easier to use some milk jugs, as the website also suggests. Mix in the hot soapy water from step 1, then stir for a bit, then add a cup of washing soda. Stir for a couple of minutes, then add a half cup of borax should you decide to use it. Stir for another couple of minutes, put the lid on the bucket, then let sit overnight to cool.

And that’s it! It seems easy enough, right? 🙂 Like I said earlier, if any of you with hard water have tried this, let me know how it worked for you. Of course, any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated! 😀

EDIT 6/2/2012: You probably could use some essential oils to make your detergent smell pretty. Just be aware that there are some essential oils that are skin irritants so, if you add essential oils, I would suggest putting a drop on your skin first and wait to see if it irritates your skin. Put however many drops you want in the mix after you’ve already mixed in the borax. Stir for another couple of minutes to make sure that it gets mixed in well. 🙂