Lifestyle ~ Saving Money

Laundry

One of the best, surefire ways to save money is on laundry soap! You can make your own for a fraction of the cost of all those big name brands and it is simple. Before we talk about how, lets talk savings!

I love Fels Naptha. Fels Naptha has been around for over a hundred years and is now distributed by the Dial Soap Company. Normally, you can find Fels Naptha for about $1.50 to $1.75 a bar, but right now Soaps Gone Buy has it on sale for $.99! One bar will make a five gallon bucket of laundry soap. I use approximately 2/3 cup per load and doing laundry for my dirty bunch, the soap I make from one bar last anywhere from 2 to 3 months!

Some recipes call for adding washing soda and or Borax. I rarely add these, but you can if you want. The recipes only call for 1 cup each of the two, so all total it doesn’t add much to the cost. I find using the Fels Naptha alone cleans well, not only that, it is the only laundry soap I have found that takes the diesel smell out of clothes (when dh is working on equipment).

Here is another thing we have discovered. I have two kids with sensitive skin. In the years since we have used Fels Naptha we have seen a huge decrease in problems with skin irritations. Like I said, this is an old recipe and it does not have many of the chemicals found in today’s laundry detergents.

Besides being great as a laundry soap, Fels has a number of other uses. You can find all of these listed on the Soaps Gone Buy website along with the more popular recipes for using Fels.

But here is my recipe. I place the bar in a one gallon pitcher (that has a lid) (I DO NOT GRATE the BAR). Add boiling water until the pitcher is about 2/3 full, then finish filling with hot tap water. Stir this and allow to cool. It will thicken or it should, but if it doesn’t, don’t worry, it will still do the job. I use out of this pitcher. When it begins to get low, repeat the boiling water process. The bar will still be in the bottom of the pitcher. And it last and last. Honestly, that is all there is to it and we have been doing it this way for over 7 years! My husband even thinks this is the coolest thing.

With my crew, I figure at today’s prices I would be spending about $15.00 to $20.00 a month on laundry soap if I were buying from the local big box store. However, with the Fels I am spending less than a $1.00, plus we aren’t suffering from skin irritations.

I calculate, I save at least $14.00 a month and that adds up to $168.00 for the year! Plus, I love the fact that we have less chemicals coming in contact with out skin. *I’m really pushing this skin irritation/chemical thing, huh? But it is because I want you and your family healthy, too!*


Mean while back at the ranch....er, homestead ~

No more babies, yet! We are just waiting, waiting. The little orphan chile (kid) is doing great ~ only, dh and the boys talked me in to letting her sleep in the house (in a huge RubberMaid type tub), because the nights are still so cold. Well, she can get out of that huge tub now! So, I am here to tell you, it better warm up! About 5:00 a.m. she expects breakfast and if it doesn't show up pretty soon, she is out of that tub and looking for food!

May this Thursday find you blessed!