Wash laundry in cold water whenever possible. If you need to have hot or warm water at least use a cold rinse.
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Throw a tennis ball & an
older towel into the dryer to help cut down on drying time. The tennis ball
helps toss around the clothes so that they don't get stuck
together.
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Hang dry as much laundry as
possible - I do this with pretty much all of our clothes. Things I will NOT
hang dry: towels, socks, underwear & undershirts.
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A few things I have not be able to substitute yet are Clorox bleach & Shout stain remover. Just buy them when they are on sale &/or with coupons. Sometimes the prices are also a little better at a wholesale club. I have also only bought name brand OxiClean because I get it on sale with coupons but I have heard the store brands work just as well.
I use OxiClean in the 'home-made' dishwashing detergent as well.
USE ALL
PRODUCTS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
See the end
of this post for comments about HE* appliances.
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HOMEMADE
LAUNDRY DETERGENT
Make your own laundry detergent - I did this for the first time about a month ago. I hand my fingers crossed because my family has lots of DIRTY laundry (ie. white baseball pants, workout clothes, etc). I wanted to use the detergent for awhile before I posted it so that I could make sure it actually works - & it DOES! I will definitely be making it again! I checked quite a few stores & Wal-Mart was the only store that carried a few of the items & they did have some of the best prices. Head over to How She Does It for a price break down. You only need 1-2 TBSP per load (I use 2). This detergent does NOT suds up. Here's the recipe:
What you need:
A container to hold all of
your new detergent - Wal-Mart sells glass jars or you can go to Home Depot or
Lowes for a big bucket with a lid.
1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax -
Found in the detergent aisle
1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm &
Hammer Super Washing Soda - Found in the detergent aisle
3 lbs of OxiClean (you can
either buy the small container & use the whole thing or buy the larger
container & use about 1/2 - see what has a better price) - Found in the
detergent aisle (was told that off brands work just as well)
2 (14.1 oz) Bars of Zote Soap
or Fels Naptha - Found in the detergent aisle
2 (2 lb) or 4 (1lb) Boxes of
Arm & Hammer Baking Soda - Found in the cooking aisle (any brand will work
just as well)
1-2 (55 oz) Bottle of Purex
Crystals Fabric Softener or Downy Unstoppables - Found in the detergent aisle
(This is 100% optional. You can add as little or as much as you would like, it
any at all. Just go with the scent you like the best. Again, look for coupons
& sales.)
What you do:
Grate the soap bars on a box
grater. I have a food processors but I was a hesitant to use it to shred the
soap. If you choose to do this, do so at your own discretion.
Open all of the boxes &
pour everything in. If you would like you can add ingredients in
layers.
Hold the boxes low so that the
powder doesn't go everywhere.
Add your shredded
soap.
Stir slowly or put the lid on
TIGHT & roll or shake the container.
USE ALL PRODUCTS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
See the end of this post for comments about HE* appliances.
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HOMEMADE
FABRIC SOFTENER
6 cups water
3 cups vinegar (it is less
expensive to buy a gallon of vinegar - it can then be used for the 'homemade'
dishwasher detergent & many other things)
2 cups of hair conditioner (I
actually end up using almost the entire bottle - just get the least expensive,
best smelling hair conditioner you can find
A pot
A whisk
Container to put it in after
it cools down
Downy fabric softener ball or
towel to make a homemade reusable dryer sheet (see below)
Pour water into the pot &
heat to almost boiling.
When water is HOT remove from
heat & pour in hair conditioner.
Whisk or stir until
conditioner is completely dissolved. Don't whisk to fast.
Add vinegar and
stir.
Cool & jar.
Use in either a fabric
softener ball or on a reusable dryer towel or use about 2 TBSP to 1/4 cup in the
fabric softener spot in your washer.
USE ALL
PRODUCTS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
See the end
of this post for comments about HE* appliances.
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REUSABLE
FABRIC DRYER SHEETS
No more dryer sheets. I am
going to finish the last of the dryer sheets I have on hand. When they run out
I am going to give this a
try.
USE ALL PRODUCTS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
See the end of this post for comments about HE* appliances.
USE ALL PRODUCTS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
See the end of this post for comments about HE* appliances.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HOMEMADE
FEBREZE
Haven't tried this yet but
head over to Life
- Family - Love for the recipe if you would like to give it a
try.
USE ALL
PRODUCTS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
See the end
of this post for comments about HE* appliances.
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USE ALL
PRODUCTS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
I HAVE
READ THAT THE PRODUCTS ARE OK TO USE WITH HE* APPLIANCES BUT IT IS
YOUR CHOICE TO DO SO.
The following comments were taken from How She Does It. Head over to the website to check out other questions & comments.
A few more comments taken from The Frugal Girls about HE*.
The following comments were taken from How She Does It. Head over to the website to check out other questions & comments.
question:
is this safe in a HE (high efficiency) machine?
-
Danielle Kellogg says:
I have been making my own laundry soap for about 4 years and My husband and I bought a HE washer about a year ago, I never even wondered if I could or couldn’t use my laundry soap, I just did it. We have not had any problems. I do dump a half gallon of vinegar through it every few months just to help with any build up that may be there. -
Hi Angela,Yes it is safe in an HE machine. I personally don’t have an HE machine but I know that this specific recipe has been used in an HE machine without any problems what-so-ever (I’ve given so much out to friends and family to try). HE machines need a detergent that is low sudsing. This recipe does not make any suds so it works really well.
-
lindsi says:
If you have an HE washer you are going to want to omit the fabric softener from the recipe. I was speaking with repair man about proper/improper use with the HE washers and he said the worst thing you can do is use fabric softener in an HE washer and strongly recommends to skip it all together so you don’t shorten the life of your washer.
A few more comments taken from The Frugal Girls about HE*.
Sounds
GREAT! I’m a little leery of the home-made stuff though because I own a high
efficiency machine and the instructions were very particular about what I could
use. This doesn’t sound harmful – do you think I could use it in my front load
HE machine? I would LOVE to cut out the cost of fab softener that stuff is
$$$
-
Terra says:
HE machine can not handle soap suds. Normal detergent has additives that make it bubble up. The HE detergent have very little. If you make your own laundry soap you can use that in your HE machine. I don’t think there would be a problem with conditioner since it is does not bubble like shampoo. -
kim says:
I have an HE washer and dryer. I have been using this homemade fabric softener for about 6 months now and I could not be happier. It works great. Sometimes my laundry used to smell after washing and drying it but not anymore. I also starting leaving my washer machine door open a little. Again, this homemade fabric softener is great and I have definitely saved money. I use Suave or V05 and try to keep the scent something like a breeze or fruity scent.
