Loads and Loads of Fun

(I am posting this on December 10th, but I started it over a month ago. I've been a very bad blogger and I apologize.)

Laundry.

I hate it.

Doing laundry has always been a huge chore for me. When Brooks and I got married, doing laundry wasn't really 'essential'. I would do laundry if I had to...like when we were out of underwear...or when the dirty laundry was literally draped over everything in our house....or when I needed clean, non-bloody scrubs to wear to work. But if the laundry didn't get done, we didn't really care. We were newlyweds...we had better things to do than laundry.

Unfortunately, I never did get to the point where I did laundry regularly. Some of you have seen the horrifyingly huge piles of dirty laundry that used to haunt my basement. It was scary...and slightly disturbing. I'm sorry for the nightmares you have experienced.

After the girls were born, I decided that I couldn't live my laundry life this way any longer. I was going through clothes like crazy...breast milk, spit up, poop, pee, and puke on everything. Add to that baby clothes, blankets, sheets, changing pad covers, bibs, washcloths, burp cloths...all times two!

I decided to finally grow up and take responsibility for my self destructive laundry ways...I'm proud to report that for the past several months, I have kept up on the laundry. This means I do laundry ALMOST daily. I'm always either washing, drying, folding, or putting away. It sucks...I'm not going to lie...but I'm learning to cope.

With all this laundry, we were going through laundry detergent like water. Every time I would go to Wal-Mart, I would buy 3 or 4 BIG things of detergent. It was expensive...and I was buying the cheap stuff!

Brooks and I are always looking for ways to save some money (babies are expensive, in case you didn't know), so when I saw that you could make your own laundry detergent, I was super excited! I never thought that laundry detergent could be made....it had never occurred to me. I thought it WAS an ingredient, like flour or milk or marshmallows...not something you could make at home!

I've tried two different 'recipes' for detergent, and I thought I would share with you the recipes and my personal review of homemade laundry detergent.

The first recipe makes 'liquid' detergent:

Hot water
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
1 Soap bar

• Grate the bar soap and add to a large saucepan with hot water. Stir over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
• Fill a 10 gallon pail half full of hot water. Add the melted soap, Borax and Washing soda, stir well until all powder is dissolved. Top the pail up with more hot water.
• Use 1 cup per load, stirring soap before each use (will gel).

This works pretty well, but who has a 10 gallon pail? Not me. I just put it in old detergent bottles. And mine never really became a 'gel'.

Here's a recipe for dry detergent:

1 bar fels naptha (laundry soap...can also use a bar of ivory)
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax

• Grate the bar of soap
• Mix other ingredients in large container

This is the recipe I've been using. I like it because it is quick, easy, non-messy, and I don't have to boil water. Before I was a load, I run some hot water in the washer first, then add the detergent so it dissolves. I don't think this is necessary, but I do it. :)

I've been making my own laundry detergent for well over 2 months now. Here are some things I've discovered:

1. Use the Fels-Naptha soap. Ivory did not clean the clothes as well. You can buy Fels-Naptha off amazon.com or from Meijer. I didn't find it at our Wal-Mart, but we have a tiny Wal-Mart. If you live in the land of Logansport, go to Arone's Hardware.

2. There are no suds with this detergent. It still cleans things...trust me.

3. I still use some kind of spray'n'wash pre-treater. We have disgustingly dirty stuff in this house....dried on sweet potatoes, poop explosions, berry smoothie covered bibs, and leaky diaper goo. I used a pre-treater when I was using store bought detergent, and I still use it and need it.

Why I still use pre-treater stuff:

4. I've noticed that my whites aren't quite as white as before. I haven't bleached anything lately...but I think you can buy something called 'blueing' that goes in your laundry that makes whites whiter. I'm thinking of trying it someday, but right now, I don't care that much.

5. I've been making my own detergent for almost 3 months now and I've spent under $10 on laundry in that time.

6. I still use fabric softener. I love fabric softener. It makes the world smell like heaven.

7. Washing soda is NOT baking soda. Washing soda is found at Meijer, online, and some hardware stores. Borax is almost everywhere--I got mine at Wal-Mart.

So there you go...everything I have learned about making laundry detergent! If you are thinking about trying it, I highly recommend it! It will definitely save some money.

Here are some pictures of the girls....because I know most of you don't look at my blog to learn about laundry or hear my deep thoughts. It's all about the cuteness.

Maya in da hood

Gianna when she was sick with a double ear infection. Poor baby fell asleep right there on the couch.
Maya in her sweet action exersaucer, compliments of the lovely Charity
My lovely Mama and the girls
Gigi (left) and Maya (right)
These next pictures are all taken by my sister...she always gets the best pictures of the girls!

Gianna
Maya
The girls in their new winter pajamas from Miss Ramona
Mommy and Maya