January 22, 2014

The Make Your Own Movement (1 Comment)

Filed under: In the Kitchen — The Spider Herself @ 5:46 pm

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This is why I don’t like Make Your Own. Everything empty at once. And why does it seem more of a burden to stop and MAKE some as opposed to putting it on a list, forgetting list at home, going to the store- where I have to go anyway (these kids want food!) and picking it up?

I keep messing with my laundry detergent recipe- just trying to make it easier than it already is because: Burden! The typical recipe calls for a shredded bar of Fels Naptha (which is getting easy to find- the local Walmarts even carries it), some washing soda and Borax. But I saw one recipe (sorry, can’t remember where or I’d give a hat tip) that only called for Washing Soda, Borax and essential oils. The greatest problem with making my own is shredding the soap- yes, even when my food processor does it. I’m a wimp.I’ve been reducing the soap and adding more of the other ingredients. I’ve also been adding essential oils for kicks. Usually eucalyptus or tea tree with something that smells better. Then I read where someone mentioned shredding the soap and keeping it in a baggie. This last time I shredded two bars and am keeping one in a baggie. That way all I’ll have to do next time is mix it all together.

The glass containers were for deodorant (coconut oil, baking soda, arrowroot powder and essential oils) and face cream (coocnut oil, vitamin E and lavender essential oil).

The spray bottle is a cleaner that I’ve been using which was all over the internet awhile back. It’s vinegar and dish soap (supposed to be the name brand stuff but I don’t buy it). I mainly use it for a bathroom cleaner. I find it keeps the mildew down on the shower curtain.

I like using these but I am not an overly picky person. I’m not sure how much it saves money wise if you look you can find breakdowns of the laundry detergent on line. Balancing out time vs. money savings? I don’t know. I am not sure any one of these things would break the budget but maybe added up it amounts to something? Again, I don’t know.  But it makes me feel like I’m DOING something to earn my keep.

1 Comment »

  1. Opportunity cost! That’s come up a ridiculous number of times in the last three days. I’m certain enough without pushing a pencil that the cost of making laundry detergent (or is it really soap?) will be lower than that of buying it, even though cleaning the food processor is a giant pain, that I’m going to try it. But so far as I can tell, that and yogurt are about the only things that are clearly advantageous that way.

    I still haven’t made spray cleaner because I am too cheap to go buy a spray bottle and I haven’t emptied one yet. Which makes me wonder if I even need to make spray cleaner. If I use it so infrequently that the bottles I do have are bottomless, why make more? Especially if (for example) the washing machine with a nice bleachy wash cycle will clean my shower curtain for me.

    Comment by Karen. — January 22, 2014 @ 8:43 pm

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