Forced to be productive
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The last 10 days have been a serious challenge for me, mainly because I dislocated my tailbone, which is as painful as it sounds. Being in constant pain means I’m a little
edgy (ok, I’m a lot edgy), which makes getting through the day with the kids a challenge. Just sitting down is extremely painful and riding in the car brings tears to my eyes. My dad came in town to help and let’s just say we can’t even agree to disagree.
Despite my injury I’m really trying to be productive. The kids go back to school (2 days a week) in 17 days and I feel like there is still a lot to do to get ready. Even though I’m one of the most unorganized people you’ll ever meet I do like to make lists. I’m happy to say that despite the back and hip pain I’ve been able to check a few things off my list including making my own laundry detergent. (Other natural cleaning options.)
I’ve been wanting to try this for awhile because the organic detergents are so expensive and I’ve had a hard time getting stains our of the boys clothes. My husband called it “a little too crunchy” until he heard it was about half the price of the store bought detergent we’ve been using. This was so easy Nature Boy (otherwise known as my 5 yr. old) practically made it for me.
1. Use a cheese grater to finely shave 4 bars of ivory soap (this is where I had some help)
2. Add 4 cups of 12 Mule Team Borax
3. Add 4 cups of Arm & Hammer Super Sudsing Soda (I’ve heard this can be hard to find, but we get it at our local Publix)
Mix well and use about 2 tablespoons per load – 3 if things are really dirty. For really heavy stains I pre-soak the item overnight in a tablespoon of detergent and water. So far, it’s working really well. I’ve done about 6 loads of laundry since I made it.
Tip: I replaced my fabric softener with 1/2 cup of white vinegar. I add it to the fabric softener cup on my washer, but you can also put it in a Downy ball. So far, our clothes have been clean, soft and static free!
These changes were really easy and make it more affordable to keep unnecessary chemicals out of our clothes and our home.
Other things I accomplished this week that I hope to blog about later include making and freezing the following for back to school: 2 months worth of homemade pizza crusts and pizza sauce, buckwheat apple/cinnamon pancakes, panko breaded chicken tenders, and maple granola.
Is making your own laundry detergent “too crunchy” as my husband claims or is it something you’d like to try?
It does feel really crunchy to me but I’m not doubting that it would work just as well. I’m so sorry you dislocated your tailbone and I hope it heals soon.
Rebecca at Toothwhale´s last blog ..Project 365- Week 33
Jeanne – I’m so glad the make-up and laundry posts were helpful. We all have sensitive skin too, especially the boys, so I was buying the natural, sensitive, dye free. I kept seeing posts and coming across recipes for homemade laundry detergent so I decided to give it a try. It really takes minutes to make.
Rebecca – my husband thinks it cruncy, but cruncy people seem to think it’s just economical
Thanks for the well wishes. PT is helping a lot!
Calie, I love that your post today was about laundry soap. After reading your post regarding your “makeup purge’, it inspired me to do the same. It also reminded me that I have put off my search for a better laundry soap for too long. My spouse & both my children have very sensitive skin so every laundry detergent & soap has to be ‘sensitive & dye-free’ to accommodate their needs…which can be VERY costly; and with only one income at this time, every penny counts, often twice. I’m looking forward to trying this. Thanks for the suggestion.
Hi, just wondering about the “super sudsing soda” – I’m in Australia and it is not something I’ve ever heard of before…. is there anything else you can use in it’s place? Is it washing soda – or something different again? I couldn’t find it on the Arm & Hammer website (perhaps I’m missing something…) Thanks