This is the way we wash our clothes...

This morning, I helped my best friend buy the supplies she would need to make her own laundry soap. As we were placing the items in the buggy, I realized I had pictures at home for an updated post on this fabulous laundry soap recipe.

My family has worked our way through 4 batches now, and I still love it. It smells wonderful. It's inexpensive. And it gets our clothes clean.

Here's what you need:



You can find all of these items in the laundry section of your store.

The original recipe calls for the bars of soap to be grated - but that takes forever! Instead of grating the bars of soap, I cut one bar at a time into one inch cubes. After placing the cubes on a microwave safe plate, I microwave the soap for 2-3 minutes. It will puff up - once it puffs up, remove it from the microwave or it will burn. After the puffed soap has cooled, you will be able to crumble the soap into a powder form.  It seems that this powder version of the soap bars dissolves better than the grated soap pieces too.

I have found a simple way to remove any lingering soap smells from the microwave  - heat a couple of cups of white vinegar in a microwave safe bowl for 2-3 minutes. You can also add lemon juice to the vinegar. All will smell fresh again!

I am obsessed with these green laundry totes from IKEA. And I have decided they are the perfect container to mix this soap in. You will want to mix your ingredients outside because it will create a cloud of soap powders. And I use gloves while mixing the soap by hand.

After all the powders are combined, you can pour your soap into an airtight container. I choose to use a 2 gallon glass jar. 

The flexibility of this green tote allowed me to easily use the handle as a funnel.

Info:

• One batch of this soap lasts my family of four a little over a year. 
• I use 2 tablespoons of the mixture per load of laundry. 
• I have an HE washer - I simply pour the powdered soap directly into the drum of my machine before I place my clothes into the washer. My soap always dissolves just fine. 
• Our whites stay white and our clothes are always clean. 
• If there is a stain on a particular item, I spray it with a stain spray and wash like normal. 
• This soap seems to be fine for sensitive skin. My son and I both have eczema and this does not seem to bother us. 
• I don't use fabric softener - just dryer sheets in my dryer. 

Have any of you tried this recipe? We are in love with the soap, the smell and the cost! 

See my "Brighten up the Laundry Area" post here. 

Project: Brighten Up the Garage Laundry Area

I am so thankful for the power of one can of paint and a little hard work. Often, a big remodel isn't in the budget...but a can of paint is. Our laundry area is in the garage. Although I would love to have a cute little laundry room, I knew that wasn't an option right now. But in two day's time, with the help of my husband, I was able to transform this dingy area into something clean and bright.

The "before" was pretty typical of garage/basement laundry areas. 

Since it was in the garage, it was easy to dismiss the space and let it get cluttered. The paneling behind the appliances was dingy looking and it was not the most fun place to hang out. 

My husband moved everything off the wall for me.  Just adding the white paint seemed to make the whole area brighter. 

I also painted the door into the house from the garage black. It always seemed dirty and scuffed up. 

Once all the brackets were spray painted black, the shelves looked more uniform. 

And a plug-in light (similar to this one) with a cute metal shade helps me to be able to see what I am folding. All the other lights in the garage are behind my head when I am standing at the washer. 

The wood grain gray foam tiles (purchase them here for $20) are just part of a set of floor tiles I purchased. It is a softer surface to stand on, but easy to wipe up. Since it is the garage, I didn't want to add a rug that would show dirt. Plus, the set came with 9 tiles. If one gets dirty, I can switch it out for a new one. 

The painted canvas was from this painting party that I had with my small group. As I am folding those clothes, I can be reminded to be thankful for the family I have and the way the Lord provides for us. 

It may not be marble tiled floors  - but it's clean, fresh and fit our budget. And it is exciting to do laundry in a less dingy space. 

 And it looks like I need to mix up a new batch of laundry soap soon...

A Year's Worth of Laundry Soap (Let's Review)

Last September, I made up a batch of laundry detergent. The original poster of the recipe claimed that this should last about one year.

And, I am here to report...It did! For our family, it lasted for 15 months.

I have used this on all of our clothes. Our whites have stayed white. Our clothes smell great. And I even use it on Hudson's laundry.

Some have asked if it can be used in HE appliances. I am happy to report, it can. Since I add the Purex Crystals, my HE washer suggested putting the scoop of powder into the drum of my top-load washer before adding the clothes. Up to this point, I have not had any issues.

Since my jar was nearing the bottom, I purchased the same ingredients I used last time. You can find them all on the laundry detergent isle at Walmart.

For less than $30, we will have detergent for another year.  We use 2 tablespoons per load. The OxyClean bucket came with a scoop that is the right measurement.

Instead of grating my soap bars, I once again used the microwave method. I cut the bars into large chucks and put a bar's worth on a microwave safe plate. After heating the soap for 2.5 minutes, it puffed up. Once the chunks had cooled, I was able to easily crumble the soap into a powder.

After mixing the ingredients in a five gallon bucket, I then transferred the powder into my 2 Gallon glass jar. It will hold the entire recipe.

The smell that comes from a fresh mixed batch of this powder is pretty great, as well. 

Have any of you tried this method? I can't beat the price! Please let me know if you have any questions - I will do my best to give an honest assessment. 

A little help folding the laundry

Now that I am a stay-at-homer, I am getting my housework accomplished much more efficiently. But today, as I wrestled to neatly fold a fitted sheet, I thought to myself, "I know there is a better way." Growing up, mom's sheets always looked amazing. From a distance, you couldn't tell if the folded sheet was a fitted or a top sheet. With my sheets, it was pretty obvious that the big fluffy wad was the fitted one. While I was working, I didn't really have time to get it folded neatly. I would get the fitted sheet in a semi-folded form, enough to lay decently on the shelf. But now, I actually have time to learn how to do it correctly.

I had seen this idea sometime back on Pinterest. Store your sheets inside the pillowcases.



Pin found here.

 But before I can store my bedsheets like the Pin, I've got to figure out how to fold them neatly. The top sheet always looks so nice...but the fitted one is always struggling a bit.

Many years back, my friend Martha taught me how to fold a T-shirt. Check out her instructions here...there's a video. Prepare to be amazed. Or, check out these illustrated instructions.

I figured she may have some solution for fitted sheets as well. And she did.

I will be practicing. If I could master the 2 second t-shirt fold, I can also master this.

Have you found any folding tricks lately? Were you able to fold your t-shirt the magical way?