Emergency Paper Towels

Liam's been feeling much better. Thank goodness. I was able to put away our one roll of paper towels we keep in the house for emergencies. Just about a year ago I stopped buying any paper towels, but then a few months after only using rags, Quinn got sick in the middle of the night making me curse my decision to be rid of all paper towels. So now we keep a roll for emergencies.

So, other than stomach bug stuff, we've survived almost an entire year using rags for our cleaning needs. Most of them are old towels or t-shirts, but I did invest in a pack of cloths meant for car detailing - those are my favorites. They're easy to wash (just don't use fabric softener), readily available, and have saved us money on paper goods.
We also switched to cloth napkins over a year ago - those just go in the wash with our dish towels. Easy peasy.

HE laundry soap

 

Awhile ago I found a recipe to make your own laundry detergent on Pinterest.  It took me a few days to gather all the ingredients needed... not everything was easily found at our grocery store, as was suggested by the original blogger.  I found Ace Hardware to have most of what I needed.  (They probably had everything... I just didn't find the baking soda.)  I changed the recipe a bit, because we have a High Efficient Washing Machine.  The original blogger suggested keeping the recipe the same and just using less, but after reading the suggestions for adding Borax, Washing Soda, or Baking Soda to HE washing machines I figured cutting back on the soap would be a good idea and then using the same amount per load.  I tested it out this weekend and we love it!  The batch made plenty of laundry soap, I was able to put the powder right into the dispenser meant for powder soap, and the clothes were not soapy after the wash (which is what happens when you use too much soap not meant for a HE washer). 

I choose a different bar of soap, because the soap she suggested had more chemicals than I would prefer.  I choose Grandma's Lye Soap - it was a bit more expensive then what she suggested, but the ingredients included lye and lard.  That's it. Another change I made to the original recipe was that I didn't use Oxyclean in the mix.  I decided to just add Oxyclean to any loads I thought needed the extra boost.  So.... here's my adapted recipe for an HE Laundry Detergent. 

 

Box of Borax (about 4 pounds)

Box of Washing Soda (about 4 pounds)

Baking Soda (about 4 pounds - I couldn't find a 4 pound box as was suggested, so I found a huge bag and used about 4 pounds of it.)

Two bars of Grandma's Lye Soap

 

Shred the soap (Mike did this and used our cheese grater.  We weren't worried about it - it's soap - simple soap - so we figured it would come clean and we wouldn't taste the soap.)

Mix all ingredients together.  This smelled wonderful and made my hands feel so soft.

You can store it however you like, Liam and I found this container and a measuring spoon meant for coffee at Target.  It works perfectly.  One tablespoon scoop per load is all you need.   

 

I'm excited to see how long our mixture lasts.  My estimated cost was $25 - and this picture shows about half of what we made. 

 

I'm not sure exactly how "green" or "organic" this is, but the waste from the boxes was all recycled and the only thing that went into the trash was the wrappers from the soap.  I feel comfortable with the ingredients - Borax, Washing Soda, and Baking Soda each only have one ingredient listed.  So - our laundry soap has only five ingredients.

 

I tested it out yesterday and am happy to report that our clothes came out of the wash smelling clean and clear of fake fragrances.  They look great too!

 

This might just be my next project.