DIY laundry soap

Are you tired of buying expensive laundry soap? 

Well..with a family of seven I was, so I found a recipe for homemade laundry soap. This stuff is awesome because it's way stronger then the store bought laundry soap. You only have to use 1 Tablespoon per load. I'm thinking it will last about 9 months (We do about 8 loads a week). 9 months of laundry soap for less than $10, have I got you interested yet?

What you'll need: 

• 1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the detergent isle

• 1  box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the detergent isle

• 3 bars of Fels-naptha soap, found in the detergent isle

You should be able to find all of these items at your grocery store,(I was surprised to find it on all on the same shelf). This detergent is fairly mild smelling, it's not over powering. If you love a strong scent you may have to add a essential oils also (I used lilac scent). 

**I plan on using this for cloth diapers also, but I may omit the Fels-naptha soup not sure yet.**  UPDATE: Soap (including Fels-Naptha) should not be used because of the residue issues.

 Now that you have everything you need let's get grating. Start out by grating your Fels-naptha soap just like cheese. You can use a food processor or just use your hand held grater, what ever you have. This is the part my kids love to do! 

I decided to put the mixture in a container with a lid lined with a trash bag, (this way the little ones don't use it as a sand box & it will stay air tight). 

 Next add the boxs of Borax, Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, Essental oils (optional) and mix well. Don't worry about the Fels-naptha soap it will melt in any cycle, even cold.

Wasn't that easy? You just made soap..Enjoy!

Cloth Diapering

I have used disposable diapers since 2001, without giving it any thought.  50 million diapers get tossed each day and each one takes up to 500 years to breakdown. I wanted to try cloth diapers with my youngest daughter to save us some money, since we’re a one income large family. When she was born we used disposable, but switched to cloth due to very sensitive skin.

 We got the “gDiaper Everyday g’s 6-pack” to try them out. It took some time to get use to them, but now it’s like second nature. We have many colors “Grateful red,  Guppy green, Good vibe stripes, Great orange, Genuine vanilla bean, Good night blue, Goddess pink and Gooseberry purple.”  The gDiaper = #1 a soft cotton outer diaper cover made of breathable material ,#2 a snap-in liner made of highly breathable, waterproof material and #3 an insert whether you use gCloth or the 100% biodegradable gRefill. The gCloth is two layers of soft 100% polyester micro-fleece and two layers of hemp/cotton to absorb wetness and hold moisture in. The gRefills are made of sustainably farmed wood fluff pulp, with sodium polyacrylate (SAP) for absorbency, and cellulose rayon. No plastic. You can flush them, compost them or even toss them. They will break down unlike the disposable.

My gDiaper stash on our drying rack (an old crib rail placed vertical).
info from gDiaper.com

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We have tried another type of cloth diapers called  “Pocket diapers”, we use Simply Cloth by JustSimplyBaby.com

They are made out of regular material (polyester) and coated with  PUL- so no covers needed! The minky diapers are made out of very soft and plus micro-fiber fabric. Also water proof! The microfiber inserts are made from environmentally friendly material. They are 100% unbleached materials. A fabric with tiny strands and with 40 times more surface area for absorption. It is light, less bulky and durable.. These diapers have snaps instead of Velcro.. the velcro tabs will stick terribly to the inserts while in the wash…causing the inserts to fray.  Another big reason is, velcro has a tendency to tilt upwards towards the baby’s tummy- causing a rubbing rash. Pocket diapers are exactly what they sound like, a pocket in the back of the diaper is where you insert as many pads as you need for absorbency. They come in lots of colors and patterns..I double up on inserts all the time, I find that one is not enough our little wetter.  Even my husband like these ones, because there is no extra steps. You will need to change the whole diaper, unlike the gDiaper. Just unsnap the diaper, change it for a clean one. It helps if you stuff them a head of time.

This is some of my stash on our new clothesline. 

info from Justsimplybaby.com