Homemade Cleaning Products

Homemade cleaning products are all over Pinterest.

I’ve seen them but haven’t been that interested.  Getting out of bed, getting the kids to school, and getting dinner on the table, is enough for me some days.  And why would I want to go to the trouble of making something when I could just go buy it?  You gotta pick and choose your to-do list as mother.

But then I talked to my friend and sister in law about different homemade supplies.  They made it seem doable, not too scary, and worth it.  They were telling me how cheap it is compared to the store bought products.

The idea of saving lots of money appealed to me (because I am trying to be thrifty), so I moved homemade cleaning products on to the “maybe I will try that” list.

Then I started reading here about how homemade cleaners have less chemicals and are less toxic and are better for the environment.  I was finally convinced to move homemade cleaning products to my official “to-do” list.

I decided to start slow and small and work through a natural progression.  I would use the store bought cleaners I already had until they ran out and then I would slowly integrate homemade products into my cleaning supplies.

The first homemade product I wanted to try was  Laundry Detergent.

I found the pin and read the Homemade Laundry Detergent blog post.  I also read the 217 comments.   You can learn as much from comments as you can from blog posts.   I read comments like

“a year’s worth of laundry for $20”

“I did some math after making this detergent. Depending on whether you are using 1 or 2 tablespoons, this recipe will wash 195-390 loads! The ingredients cost me just over $19 so that works out to 5-10 cents per load! You can’t beat that bargain.”

“By far the BEST laundry soap I have ever used. I also use the Purex Crystals. I love how this smells. It only took me around 20 minutes to put together but has saved me so much time. I don’t have to run to the store every month to by detergent! I have been using my first batch for about 4 months and am only around half way through and I do A LOT of laundry. I will never go back to store bought detergent.”

I gained confidence that maybe I could do this and that it would be worth it. I went shopping and got all the ingredients at Wal-Mart.

I spent about $12 (not including the Oxi Clean.  I already have a big box of that from Costco.)   I estimate the total ingredients for the homemade laundry detergent cost me about $20 which is what I spend on one container of liquid laundry detergent now.  The difference is the store bought container lasts me 1 month at the most, whereas the homemade recipe is supposed to last for 6 months to 1 year depending on how many loads you do.  This is definitely thrifty.

And I just might actually make the homemade recipe this weekend.

I also bought the supplies for a homemade veggie wash and a homemade stain remover.

I hope you aren’t disappointed that I actually haven’t made the detergent or other cleaning supplies yet.  I wanted to give you a post that showed how some of us work– slow, over time, with baby steps.  And I can make it seem too easy if I just write it all down in one post like it was just something I decided to whip up one day.

So note that all I have done thus far is

talked to some friends

decided to try this

read a post and  its comments

shopped at Wal-Mart

All those tasks are doable when you break it down, right?

Now all I have to do is make the cleaning supplies.  And that actually seems like the easy part.

I am excited to try my new thrifty laundry detergent and other cleaning supplies.   I will let you know how it goes.