Sunday, August 31, 2008

Money Monday . . . Frugal Alternatives for your laundry

If you have ever seen my blog (Gretchen's blog), you may have seen my homemade laundry detergent. Well, if you haven't tried it - you should. It works wonderfully and is very easy to do. Yes, it takes about 30 minutes of your time and if you don't have a food processor it could take a little longer, but it is well worth it. If you would like to read more about it, please visit here.

Anyway, my aunt keeps asking me if I have a frugal fabric softener recipe. I haven't tried one because I have been using the Shaklee brand and I have yet to run out. So I am now almost out and am going to try the following recipe which I got from several different blogs (see here). I use the Downy ball to put my fabric softener in because I never remember to add it to the rinse cycle.

Frugal Fabric Softener
  • 2c baking soda
  • 2c white vinegar
  • 4c water

Mix ingredients and store in a plastic or glass container in your laundry area. Label the container and keep it out of the reach of children. To use: Shake he mixture and add 1/4c to the final rinse in your washing machine. If you have hard water, use 1/3c.

*Now remember that baking soda and vinegar react with each other and they will bubble up and foam, so use a larger container to mix the ingredients and once that has settled, then put them in a smaller container.

Has anyone tried something other than this in their laundry?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I haven't tried that mixture but I do just put some white vinegar in my fabric softener thingie on the washer (it releases during the rinse). Seems to help with static, I don't notice a difference in softness between it and store bought stuff ... and it doesn't smell like salad. ;)