This week I have been having fun trying out a couple of new ways to save money and live more environmentally friendly. One of the things I did was make my own laundry detergent. I had read about this quite some time ago on the Simple Dollar but just hadn't gotten around to trying it yet. With his recipe you can make over 3 gallons of liquid laundry soap for less than $1 (at least for me it was).I have only been trying it on my laundry for the last couple of days but it seems to be working pretty well. Also the making of it was quite fun. At least I thought it was fun, I have always been one that loves to make messes and experiment (my mom will verify that statement) and so this was just up my alley. Thought it actually wasn't that messy. Basically you just shave a bar of soap into some hot water in a pan on the stove and dissolve it well.Then you add it to more hot water in a 5 gallon bucket, add the soda and stir well, add the borax and stir well and let it sit overnight and it is ready to use. My kids thought it looked like I was playing in water and they thought it looked like a very fun job too.
Even thought I have always bought inexpensive laundry soap (I am not a loyal Tide user) this will still be quite a money savings over time. Every little bit helps and this is not at all a hard way to save money.
~The other new thing that I am doing is brushing my teeth with baking soda. The reason I actually started doing this I because for years I have had problems with canker sores. If you have never experienced them just let me tell you they aren't fun! Lately I have been thinking that there is probably a reason I am getting them and I should do some research on it and try to find a solution for my problem. Well according to the things I read, they don't seem to truly know for sure, and it seems to vary from person to person, but a common problem with many people seems to be the Sodium Laurel Sulphate which is in many toothpastes. So I decided to check my toothpaste and sure enough it had it, then I thought I would check all the other toothpastes I had (I have gotten quite a stash from all the Walgreens deals) and they all had it in them. So I decided to try just plain soda, I know that this has been something that has been used for years and it does work, it just doesn't taste as good. Well when I switched the canker sores that I had healed up right away and so far I haven't gotten any more.
I would love to hear if anybody else has found a solution for canker sores (other than medicine) that works well. I will continue to try the baking soda and will try to remember to let you know in the future if I am still canker sore free.
~ The other thing is something I am actually just thinking about trying, I haven't tried it yet. It is where you use baking soda to wash your hair and then rinse in vinegar. It is called the no'poo method. Babyslime has a very in depth post about it explaining the benefits of the no'poo method and the problems with shampoo. I think it makes quite a bit of sense but I haven't made the switch yet. I will be sure to report if I do and how well it works. I am interested to know if any of you use this method and what you think.
For more frugal tips visit Biblical Womanhood.
8 comments:
oohhh..those canker sores hurt so bad!!
I never had these until after I had needed to be intubated for emergency surgery last year...24 hours after surgery 3 of these showed up in my mouth! outch!
Salt water is what I did..hurt and burned like crazy but did it the trick...even dabbed pure salt on the biggest of them...not sure what hurt more..
I did not want any more meds at the time so I bared the pain or the salt...
Not sure you'll want to try this..but it cheap!
Good luck..
Nadine
You could try peroxide also.
Ok! Here's a TON of information on going no poo. I've been thinking about it too, too chicken to try it :D Have fun!
http://www.welltellme.com/discuss/index.php/topic,429.0.html
We make our own toothpaste and only use the store-bought stuff when we are on trips. Here's our recipe:
3 Tablespoons baking soda
3 teaspoons salt (can adjust)
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
enough water to make a paste.
Keep it in a covered container in the bathroom. Keep a spoon with it (we use a baby spoon) to stir it up and place a glob of toothpaste on your wet toothbrush.
Also, it's not harmful if your kids swallow it! (Why is there a warning to call poison control on the toothpaste?!)
Use the cheap salt and baking soda!
Hope it helps!
Kim Fraser
I started making my own shampoo for my son who is allergic to sodium lauryl sulfate. I use homemade soap grated, fragrance oil, water, & glycerin. He doesn't really like it, but he's not breaking out with purple boils anymore.
Thanks for visiting my blog. We found about 250 mushrooms in the last 2 weeks. Our restaurants are paying $10 a pound and up for them.
I do not know if it is true but I have heard that if you just use baking soda you are more likely to
get cavities. worth looking into?
Thanks for all the comments and tips!
This is my first week using homemade laundry soap and I love it.
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