Update on Homemade Laundry Detergent and our Gas Bill

So the results are in: it works. Pretty well, too.

It doesn't have a smell, which is strange, and it doesn't foam up. Those are the differences. I've stored it in an old Oxyclean container we had.

But I've amplified its power (occasionally) by doing a long soak. My husband's workout shirts, dish rags and sheets all get an extended soak in the laundry detergent. I find that it cleans just as well as All, Seventh Generation and Purex, and when I do an extended soak it cleans as well as Method and Tide*.

I haven't bought bleach since we've been here. I can, but that means that the trip is sort of wasted**. I did find that it didn't completely remove a red sauce stain on a kitchen towel, and I'm hoping that when I do add bleach I won't really have any more issues. Who knows.

Our dryer is a gas dryer (just like the Amish, natch) and I've been using it lately. I know, I know. My rationale was that we pay a flat rate every month for gas and using the dryer occasionally wouldn't change anything. That was before I found out how it works.

I've never used the balance pay option before, so I thought it worked like this: I pay one flat rate, based on past usage. If I consistently go over or under, they reevaluate my payment and adjust it accordingly. That's not how it works here. The flat rate is one they give to most people. If our usage is under that amount, the "surplus" is stashed away. If we go over, our surplus is used to cover the overage.

We're in that overage.

I've started to hang our laundry again. Trust me, people. There is nothing worse than having cold hands and smashing your fingers on your drying rack.

*My version is dry, and I'm comparing it to liquid. I've heard that in general, liquid detergents work better. So what I'm saying is that my detergent is a champ.
**If my backpack is full of bleach, where will I put my Flavor Blasted Goldfish?

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Bombsniffer at work.

Huzza! My materials are here!

The story behind this one isn't long, but it is boring.

Homemade laundry detergent may be something you think gold buyers who are waiting for the tribulation do, but I do it too. I mean, now I do.

When I lived in the Ktown near my folks, I usually did my laundry at my parents' house*. They have a fancy HE washer that really cleans clothes, and so when I would purchase laundry detergent I would try to get something that more than I liked. Like Tide or something. I would use coupons and deals and all that, and I would haul it there in my car. When we moved here, I no longer had a car, but I did have a washer.


I had a stash of detergent when I first moved here that was given to me by people or that I found for free or whatever. I also had a dozen detergent samples from Gain and Tide that I had saved up. This was a smart move on my part (natch) because right before we left for Christmas, we were down to the dregs of our stash.**

This, added to the fact that I have no desire to haul a big ol' box or jug of detergent to my house, prompted me to look for alternatives. Obviously, I had heard of making it from scratch before. We had pretty hard water where we used to live, and detergent that didn't have brighteners added (i.e., anything but manufactured detergent) would make our whites look dingy.

Also, I didn't really want to make it.

I'm limited on good methods of acquiring laundry detergent at an affordable price. The cheapest brands here (like Sun) are essentially water and cost about 8 cents a load. Tide powder (bought in fat, heavy bulk) costs 13 cents, and All or Arm and Hammer liquids cost about 9.5 cents a load.

Those prices are definitely reasonable.

But in accordance with my aggressive debt repayment plan**, I decided to examine my options. Thus the dry powdered version of homemade detergent was born. I mean I didn't birth it. It was birthed by other bloggers.

Anyways, we have soft water, I have a large quantity of Ivory soap (got for free, made it all the way up north) and several Amazon gift cards for Christmas***.

I'll keep you posted.

*Technically, I did have a washer. A WONDERWASHER.
**Actually, the first few loads of our laundry were free because there were some discarded bottles in the laundry room, left there by the previous tenant. I sat them on their heads, filled them up with water, all that stuff. I got like 7 loads out of that business.
***I'll explain in a later post, but it's mostly crazy talk.
****Thanks mom and dad! Also B&A!