Laundry Detergent

Grace & Peace To You,


Debt as of 06/09/2012:  $92,645.00

Debt as of 01/18/2014:  $37,713.73

Total Debt Paid Down:  $54,931.27

Snow Day!  Yes, folks a random snow day from out of nowhere has given me a chance to catch up on the blog.
A member of my Running/Strength/Conditioning/Triathlon Staff contacted me several weeks ago after reading one of our posts.  Now if you wondering how I have a training staff for my amateur sports adventures let me clue you in.  These people are friends (who are former athletes and coaches) that I freely solicit advice from.  They receive no monetary compensation for their advice and only receive the glory and pride of watching me finish somewhere in the bottom half of several hundred participants in local races.

Anyway, this coach, who we will call T.J., asked me how we are saving money and are able to pay down the debt at the rate we are.  Great question!  We have made many sacrifices and do many things, but will start you off with something simple.  We make our own laundry detergent.  Yes, you did read that right.  Why (you may ask)?  Have you seen the prices for detergent?  While walking through Target with Emily, I scanned the prices for 1.5L and the 3L sizes in most of the name brands i.e. Tide, Gain.  They range anywhere $8 (1.5L) to $10-13 (3L).  Now this wouldn't be that bad if they lasted for awhile. However, they don't.  When they say 32 or 64 loads they mean if you will get that many if you fill the cap to the 1 line on the cap.  How many of you do that?  If you were single and only washed your clothes that might work.  If you are washing for 2-5 (or more) you need the 2-3 line on each load. The detergent will go fast and then, before the month is up, you're spending around $10 for more detergent.  I have to credit our West TN cousins a.k.a. the "Memphis Mafia" for showing us this money saver!

This is nothing new and I'm sure there are many resources out there better than this blog who can tell you how to do this.   Just jump on your Google Machine and search "homemade laundry detergent" and you can see a million   However, as loyal readers of our blog, we will share with you what we do and know and you can take it from there.

Recipe:

Homemade Laundry Soap

1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
~You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan.  Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts.  Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved.  Remove from heat.  Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket.   Now add your soap mixture and stir.  Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir.  Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel.  You use ½ cup per load.

*each time you get a cup for a load you will need to give the container several good stirs.

Now, we are both teachers and while we have a weekly laundry load, our line of work doesn't require to much heavy washing of our clothes.  If you are in the construction business or some other outdoor line of work, you may need to supplement some of you wash load with a store bought detergent.

The best thing about this process is once you buy the ingredients listed above they will last for awhile.  We literally haven't bought laundry detergent in our a year and a half!

We hope this tip helps you save some money.  Keep paying and saving!

In Christ,
Bryant & Emily