Making, yes MAKING, your own laundry detergent.

Damn the man.

Yes, damn him. I will not be a slave to you or your oppression via highway robbery... I will no longer let you bleed me dry one mega-jug of detergent at a time.

Well, it'd be a slow road to robbery, but still. As a stay-at-home mom, I feel my job (amongst the 1,000 other facets of my career) is to save us money. Save. Money. save... I'm always looking for little ways to curb spending so I can save up for...more spending? Anyway, the fact that this is natural and tingles the little green bits of my heart is simply an added bonus. It is so simple, so cheap, and so a way to kill a day when I want to sell my kids to the gypsies but opt to put them to work in my kitchen sweatshop instead.

Here is what you'll need... though I must first preface this by saying, in my long-winded fashion, that I have two kids. Both must be engaged in some safe activity before I attempt to do anything. Desperation is the mother of invention, so I'll throw in mini tip. A tiplet, if you will. I took yogurt, yes yogurt, put it in a ziploc, and let the baby go ape. Random and worthless, but he enjoyed it.

What you need:

Borax (again, can you hear the angels singing?)

Washing Powder

2 bars of Fels Naptha. This is a bar soap-thing that can be found in the laundry aisle.

Measuring cups (uh, duh)

A grater/processor of some sort.

Here is the recipe, if you can call it that, and it is as easy as can be:

1. Grate the Fels Naptha into fine bits.

2. Measure out 2 Cups out.

3. Add 1 cup each of borax and washing powder.

4. Combine! Et Voila!

You'll use about 2 Tablespoons per load, 1 in an HE machine. It makes a TON, rinses clean, and is safe to use on cloth diapers. Oh, and did I mention it is CHEAP? And up in the pictures... the baggie full of soap bits? Pop those left over bits, the ones you can't grate down unless you aren't afraid of grinding your fingers to bloody stumps, in a clean jar with hot water, and when it "melts" down, you have a killer stain remover. See? You just got 3 tips for the price of one! Enjoy! You'll feel like Martha, Laura Ingalls, and the Planet Green channel all into one.

Quick tip O' the day: Clean Commode

So, in an effort to blog more... a quick drive-by! You're welcome! ;)

I have a new home. Said new home has three bathrooms. Three. Glorious, yes, but oh so fun to keep clean. I've decided to do kamikaze maintenance scrub downs. Little visits from the cleaning fairy as an effort to keep down the massive hours of scrubbing, and seriously, who loves to scrub bathrooms? Well, I'll admit I do have a sick joy when looking at a gleaming toilet, but I'm the first to admit that there is nothing normal about me!

Now that we've established that I have three water closets and an unhealthy relationship with the toilet brush, here is how I get all of the party zones clean, top to bottom (heh heh) in under 20 minutes... Yes, I timed it. Oh, and as an added bonus: It's all natural baby.

Borax. Yes, again, my bestest buddy. I am aware we all know how to clean, and that we all know what to use, but this is back to the basics. Here is what you'll want before you start the oven timer in an effort to prove me wrong:

Borax

Spoon/scoop/shot glass... basically a sprinkling vessel. If you were smart and stealthy in the DIY tip area, you may think ahead and carefully empty out (or use, whatever) a tiny travel-sized baby powder conainer. Whatever floats your boat.

Empty Squirt bottle

5-6 junky wash cloths. I happen to love loading up on these at the local large chainstorefromhell (take your pick) when they are 6 for $3. I can always justify the purchase.

First, put on your best wreath of wildflowers. Obviously you'll have one on hand for just these instances. You'll see why... Scoop/sprinkle/Chuck the borax into the bowl of your potty. Make sure to get it on the dry parts, and some in the water for good measure. I typically use 3-4 tablespoons. Next, and this is the best part... LEAVE. Take your box of Borax under your arm, and (and this is where the wreath halo comes in) flit around your home like the nymph of clean. Let out a "tra la la" if you must. Head for the next bathroom and go sprinkle crazy there too. Hell, do the same in the next! Man! Don't you already feel like a goddess of domesticity? So, in under a minute, you've sprinkled borax in all of the bowls, left to sit, and skipped around your home like a damned fool. Process has begun.

As your bowls are soaking in their natural glory, pick a bathroom and squirt warm water all over the mother. Then wet your first cloth. Sprinkle some Borax on the cloth and wipe down surfaces. ALL surfaces. This works on everything. Rinse as needed, and then use a clean damp cloth to rinse again for good measure. I then like to polish with a dry cloth. I use a colored cloth for the toilets so as not to risk .... um, toilet germs? on other surfaces. Repeat on other bathrooms. It doesn't take long, remember, this is to maintain between those big "Someone is sleeping here overnight so I KNOW they'll look at every surface with a microscopic eye and a heart full of judgement" cleans.

After that is done, return to each gleaming toilet. Run the toilet brush on the inside of the bowl, flush, repeat on all bathrooms. Stand back and enjoy the rewards of your effort. SPARKLING, and clean! Now, go make a margarita to offset the productivity. We don't want our husbands getting any ideas about us making cleaning a regular thing here....