Just Sayin' Sew

Ha!  How’s that for a title?  It’s a good thing this blog is about more than just quilting….. and cats….. and food.  Now I’m turning into Laura Ingalls!

I’d been wanting to try this ever since I found out about it from a blog I read called One Good Thing.  She has so many helpful household tips!  Many of them very, very useful.  I love to see what new thing she has in my inbox every day so I quickly subscribed to her blog.

Meanwhile back on the prairie….. I was just about to run out of laundry detergent so I thought it was time to give this a try.  According to my new BFF Jillee (she doesn’t know it yet, but she will soon), it’s made with all natural ingredients and lasts a whole year if you have a family of 4 or less.  Since Pappy, Panda and Pebbles don’t contribute much to the laundry basket, I figure it will last Dear Hubby and I a long, long, long, long time.  (We better like it, right?)  I’m marking the date on the calendar (or better yet on the cool new detergent container – pics to come) so I’ll know exactly how long it lasts.

Here are all the ingredients. As well as my beautiful new laundry detergent container.  Cool, right?  Apparently it’s the little things that make me happy.  I sat in my recliner last night and ordered them all online.  And although BFF Jillee says it costs $30 to make this, it was just $24 when I got my ingredients input into the online ordering service from my local Superstore.  So I splurged and got the pretty 2 gallon glass jar for $11 too.  (I didn’t add the optional fabric softener crystals to mine.  Perhaps that is the cost difference.  I prefer not to use fabric softener in my detergent.)

And I need to stop here and make sure you appreciate the irony of ordering my supplies online to drive over and let them load them in my car for me to then come home and make soap.  Sort of a computer age meets Little House on the Prairie going on there.  I ordered groceries while I was at it so now I’m good for the week.  We are so spoiled.

Back to the laundry…..

You start with this Fels Naptha soap.  I had heard of this before but I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone who used it.  Except maybe my grandma.  And you add Borax.  Remember the old 20 Mule Team ads they used to have?  I think those were common on Bonanza or some shows back in the dark ages of television.  I didn’t even know this stuff still existed!  But there it is…. right on the shelf in the laundry aisle.  Or in the laundry section in your online ordering app.

You chop the Fels Naptha bars into little chunks to throw into your blender or food processor to pulverize them into tiny chunks.  Doesn’t it look like Velveeta cheese?  I don’t imagine it tastes like it.  And it sure doesn’t smell like cheese.

Then you mix everything into two kitchen sized trash bags.  And I forgot to take a pic of that…… oh, phooey.  Just go to Jillee and let her tell you all about how to do it here.  There’s even a video to watch where she shows you how to tumble the trash bags to mix it all together well.

Then you pour it into your pretty new glass jar and put it on the shelf in your laundry room.  With the pretty red coffee scoop that you also bought that measures out the exact 2 tablespoons that you need for one wash load.

Except oops.  My shelf wasn’t quite low enough to accommodate the big jar with the lid on.  Aaaaaackkkkk!  And I also really think I need to replace the shelf liner on that shelf.  I’m in a mood.

Not to be outsmarted, I just turned the lid upside down.  And I can still get it open enough to reach my hand in to use the pretty new scoop.  I figure when the level of detergent gets down to where I can’t quite reach it (which should be about next April or May since you only use 2 Tbsp at a time.  Or even 1 Tbsp if you have one of those fancy high energy washers), I’ll just move the container to the top of the dryer.  Because after all, pretty container.   Or maybe I’ll look for a smaller pretty container to transfer to when the level is lower?  (They have a similar 1/2 gallon jar for just $5.88.  I might really like the space that would give me on the shelf when the level of detergent is lower anyway!  Then I could just keep the big jar somewhere else and keep refilling the smaller jar?  Hmmmmm……. I think I have Fall Organizing Syndrome.)  I also might have to use something with a more airtight lid next summer when the humidity strikes.

Off to the creek to haul in some water for making tea.  Oh, wait.  We have running water here!  I got lost for a moment in Little House on the Prairie.  Maybe I need to go find some clothes to wash.

Turning laundry day lemons into lemonade….. or at the very least, cheaper lemons.
Hugs,
Barb