Going Green-ish...Saving Money

Warning - this isn't a food post, but I'm talking money saving "recipes" for day-to-day items and going green in the process. Using baking soda, borax, washing soda, kosher salt, vinegar and a few bars of laundry soap, you'll be saving some green by going greener.
This morning I had to make a list of all the things to pick up at the store while out in town. My husband asked me to add Drain-o to the list. Thinking that there must be some "homemade" concoction to use in lieu of an $7.00 bottle of Drain-o, I did what any smart person would do. I googled it. Staring right in front of me were THREE ingredients that we always have on hand: baking soda, vinegar and water. First let's do the math, one small box of baking soda is maybe 58 cent & a small bottle of vinegar is less than a dollar & water is free-ish. So for less than $2.00, you have homemade Drain-o. Amazing. Worked like a charm in our drain too.

Drain De-Clogger Recipe

1/2 cup baking soda

1 cup vinegar

1 gallon boiling water

Carefully siphon all the baking soda down the drain. Pour in 1/2 of the vinegar, covering the hole so the fizz is forced down, not up (omit this for toilets, please!). Add the second half of the vinegar, following the same procedure. Allow to sit for 15 minutes or so, and then flush with an entire gallon of boiling water.

About 2 years ago, in an effort to save money I began making my own laundry detergent, fabric softener & dishwashing powder. After buying a box of Tide last week for nearly $19.00, I decided to go back to the homemade versions. Here is my stain fighting team: Baking Soda, White Vinegar, Zote soap, Fels-Naptha, Borax, Super Washing Soda and some orange essential oil. I use a bar of Fels-Naptha or Colgate Octagon soap with a small amount of water as a stain remover along with an old toothbrush. I keep it all in an old mayo container. This is better than Shout or any other stain remover. It got black tattoo ink out of my white bedsheets combined with a bit of hairspray.

Powdered Laundry Detergent

1 cup grated Fels Naptha Soap (Zote or Colgate Octagon Soap)

1/2 cup washing soda

1/2 cup 20 mule team borax

Mix and store in airtight container or bag. For light or small loads, use 1 tablespoon. For normal loads, use 2 tablespoons. For heavy loads, use 3 tablespoons. Cost per load .15.

To make a large batch - grate 6 bars of Fels Naptha Soap and then add 3 cups of Washing Soda and 3 cups of 20 Mule Team Borax. Mix well and store in covered container.

TIP: The above recipes will NOT make suds in your washer so don't be alarmed. Fels Naptha Soap is a pure soap and typically makes little or no suds in the water. This makes it perfect for use in the new HE washers as well as traditional washers. You will also notice the need to either reduce your laundry softener or in most cases you can even eliminate the use of softener completely .

I had only 2 bars of Fels Naptha on hand this afternoon when I made my detergent. 2 bars equals almost 3 cups of finely grated/chopped soap. I run my soap through my food processor, grating it the first time and then chopping it the second time to get a fine crumble. In my batch I used 3 cups of soap to 2 cups each Borax & Washing Soda, then stirred it up and placed it in a glass cracker jar I picked up at the store. For the scoop, use a coffee scoop which is exactly 2 tablespoons.

The fabric softener is almost a science project, think volcano. Please use a bucket when making for safety purposes. Baking soda, vinegar, water & essential oils. (Wait, isn't this what's used for the homemade Drain-o too?)

Homemade Fabric Softener

"A good homemade recipe. I use a clean extra used vinegar bottle. If you try this tell me what you think. Makes about a gallon."

Ingredients

• 1 cup baking soda
  
• 6 cups distilled white vinegar
• 8 cups water
• 10 -15 drops orange essential oils (optional) or 10 -15 drops lemon essential oils (optional) or 10 -15 drops essential oils, of choice (optional)

Directions

1. You will need a one gallon container.
2. First add the baking soda to the plastic container.
3. Next add 1 cup of water to start with.
4. Slowly add the vinegar to the bottle as the vinegar and baking soda will start to fizz.
5. Then add the rest of the water swirling around & cover venting the top a few times.
6. Last add the essential oil.
7. Add 1 cup in your final rinse cycle for each load but give the bottle a good shake to stir up the essential oil if using. *I just use my downy ball & fill it up to the line as usually do with store bought softener.
   

Lastly, the my trusty homemade dishwashing detergent recipe that I've used in the past, calls for citric acid, borax, kosher salt, baking soda & essential oil. I spent a good portion of my day searching for the citric acid and settled for a pack of lemonade Kool-aid. (Use one packet as a once a month dishwasher cleaner.) Then I got home and googled some alternative recipes for the dishwashing detergent. Then I got hit with an alternative to the citric acid-Ball's Fresh Fruit. (How many times did I see jars of this while I was out today? Hmm, about 4.) Anyway, go down the canning aisle at the store or baking aisle and it'll be there. Here's the recipe I'll be using now:

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

~1Cup Borax

~1 Cup Baking Soda or Super Washing soda.

~1/2 Cup Kosher Salt

~1/2 Cup Citric Acid (Fresh Fruit in the canning aisle) or 15 packets of unsweetened Lemonade flavored Kool-Aid

Put all ingredients into a container with a tight fitting lid, and shake up! Use about 1 tablespoon per load.

*DON'T SKIP THIS STEP- Pour some white vinegar into the "rinse aid" compartment of your dishwasher. This will help to keep your dishes...especially plastic...from having a "cloudy" look.

Hope you'll try these money saving recipes and go greener in the process.