This past weekend, my husband and I went to visit my cousin Jamie, and her sweet family.
She had asked me to take some pictures of them and since they are only two hours away, it was time for a visit any how. P.S. to see the pictures from the shoot, head over to my photography blog at Lauren Tarpley Photography.
Due to health reasons, my cousin Jamie can't eat processed foods and can only use all natural ingredients in pretty much all things she consumes or puts on her body. She has learned ways to make her own house hold products to cut down on cost and also help the environment.
I hope to one day be as eco-friendly as she is.
She had told me about making household cleaner out of vinegar and tea tree oil. I made that and have loved it...I'll post a recipe soon for that.
Jamie also told me about how she makes her own laundry detergent. It is not only good for the environment, but it is extremely cost effective. For a medium sized bottle of store bought laundry detergent, you are out almost $10. Ridiculous! Especially if you have a large family.
Making the laundry detergent was so easy and cheap.
She makes the powdered kind, but it could easily be made into liquid if that is what you prefer. There are many sites out there that have a recipe for liquid.
All I needed was:
I used a whole bar of Fels-Naptha- our Wal-Mart sells it, but I heard Ace Hardware does too
I cup of Borax- our grocery store carried this
1 cup of Washing Soda- Wal-Mart or your grocer will have this
You will chop the Fels-Naptha into chunks to make it easier to grind up in the food processor.
(Does that picture above remind anyone else of the cheese in Cinderella that the mice eat? Oh, just me? Oh well :D)
Transfer the chunks to the food processor and pulse the soap as fine as you can. There will still be some bigger grains, but that's okay.
Add the soap to the washing soda and borax and put it in a container with a lid.
I plan on getting a cuter container for when we move and hopefully have an actual laundry room, but this will do for now.
All you need is one tablespoon for a small load and two tablespoons for a large.
The Fels-Naptha is great for stain removal, but you could also use Ivory or another soap called, Zote. Completely up to you.
I haven't used it yet and will update when I do to let you know my thoughts.
Cost:
Fels-Naptha- $.99 a bar at Wal-Mart.
Borax- $4.50ish at grocery
Washing Soda- $3.50ish at Wal-Mart
So if you add that up, it is basically the price of the fancy, bad for the environment, chemical infused detergent you buy at the store.
And I can make a TON of laundry detergent out of all of that.
There really is no reason not to make this. It took me about 10 minutes in total.
I have some essential oils I plan on adding to it as well to give it a great fragrance.
Try it and let me know what you think :)
Due to health reasons, my cousin Jamie can't eat processed foods and can only use all natural ingredients in pretty much all things she consumes or puts on her body. She has learned ways to make her own house hold products to cut down on cost and also help the environment.
I hope to one day be as eco-friendly as she is.
She had told me about making household cleaner out of vinegar and tea tree oil. I made that and have loved it...I'll post a recipe soon for that.
Jamie also told me about how she makes her own laundry detergent. It is not only good for the environment, but it is extremely cost effective. For a medium sized bottle of store bought laundry detergent, you are out almost $10. Ridiculous! Especially if you have a large family.
Making the laundry detergent was so easy and cheap.
She makes the powdered kind, but it could easily be made into liquid if that is what you prefer. There are many sites out there that have a recipe for liquid.
All I needed was:
I used a whole bar of Fels-Naptha- our Wal-Mart sells it, but I heard Ace Hardware does tooI cup of Borax- our grocery store carried this
1 cup of Washing Soda- Wal-Mart or your grocer will have this
You will chop the Fels-Naptha into chunks to make it easier to grind up in the food processor.
(Does that picture above remind anyone else of the cheese in Cinderella that the mice eat? Oh, just me? Oh well :D)Transfer the chunks to the food processor and pulse the soap as fine as you can. There will still be some bigger grains, but that's okay.
Add the soap to the washing soda and borax and put it in a container with a lid.
I plan on getting a cuter container for when we move and hopefully have an actual laundry room, but this will do for now.All you need is one tablespoon for a small load and two tablespoons for a large.
The Fels-Naptha is great for stain removal, but you could also use Ivory or another soap called, Zote. Completely up to you.
I haven't used it yet and will update when I do to let you know my thoughts.
Cost:
Fels-Naptha- $.99 a bar at Wal-Mart.
Borax- $4.50ish at grocery
Washing Soda- $3.50ish at Wal-Mart
So if you add that up, it is basically the price of the fancy, bad for the environment, chemical infused detergent you buy at the store.
And I can make a TON of laundry detergent out of all of that.
There really is no reason not to make this. It took me about 10 minutes in total.
I have some essential oils I plan on adding to it as well to give it a great fragrance.
Try it and let me know what you think :)
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