Homemade

I posted that my hubby mentioned that he was proud of me for making a lot of our current home cleaners. Out of frustration the other night I had to actually buy some laundry soap and dishwasher detergent. I bought the dishwasher detergent because I was in a place that did not sell one of the ingredients I needed. As for the laundry soap purchase, I had to because the store that I normally get one of the ingredients at was out! That frustrated me, so I bought regular soap- and of course bought the largest, and of course cheapest they had.

When I posted the above quite a few friends started asking for the recipes, so here are a few that I use so far.

Powdered Laundry Soap (I like this one because it is easy)
1 bar Fels-Naptha Soap (Ace Hardware sells it! At least that is what their website says. I have also been told that you can use any bar soap, but I haven't given that a try yet.)
1 cup Washing Soda (NOT BAKING- Arm & Hammer makes one)
1/2 cup Borax (found in the laundry isle)

Grate soap or break it into pieces and process in a food processor (I am going to try an old coffee grinder that we no longer use) until powdered. Mix all ingredients. Store in an air tight container.
For a lightly soiled load use 1 Tbsp, for heavier soiled load use 2 Tbsp (I almost always just use about 1 1/2 Tbsp in every load.) This washes about 40 loads.
*www.duggarfamily.com/recipes

Dishwasher Detergent
1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Kosher Salt
1/2 cup Citric Acid (you can also use 12-15 packets of unsweetened lemonade- this is what I have been using)
Mix all ingredients and store in an air tight container. Don't be surprised if the mix cakes- the citric acid does that- just break it apart. Use 1 Tbsp in the compartment that closes.
You can use vinegar as a rinse agent- put it in where you would normally add "Jet Dry".
 *diynatural.com 

Natural cleaner- did you know that vinegar is a natural cleaner? I love it, yes, it stinks but it works. I just made a spray bottle of cleaner for a dresser all that is in it is 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup water, and a couple of drops of olive oil (you could also use vegetable or lemon oil). Don't worry the vinegar smell disappears after a little while.