Laundry Detergent

I have mentioned in the past that Jan & I make our own laundry detergent. We have been using it for over a year now and I cannot tell you what a great detergent it is and how much money it has saved us to make it. Nathan keeps telling me I need to post the recipe, so today I decided to do it.

This detergent is dye-free, scent-free and hypoallergenic for all you out there requiring these things. AND it is LOW SUDSING so perfect for HE machines.

Home-made Laundry Soap Recipe :

1 bar Fels-naptha
1 cup Arm&Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 cup Borax
5 gallons and 4 cups HOT tap water (total)
1 5 gallon bucket with lid

*Grate bar of Fels-Naptha with Food processor or by hand with cheese grater.
*In medium sized saucepan, add grated soap and 4 cups water. Cook over medium heat till melted, stirring often.
*When soap is melted, fill 5 gallon bucket about 1/2 full of HOT tap water. Add melted soap, Washing Soda and Borax to water and stir well till dissolved.
*Add enough HOT water to fill the 5 gallon bucket. It will be quite heavy at this point.
*Cover tightly and let it sit overnight or until it thickens into a gel-like substance.
*Stir well. When you're ready to use the detergent, fill any empty container (milk jugs, apple juice containers or old laundry det. containers) with 1/2 laundry concentrate and fill the rest of the bottle with water.( 1 part soap/ 1 part water)
*Shake well before each use. Top load machine: 3/4 c. per load; Front load machine: 1/4 c. per load.

Yields 5 gallons of "concentrate" and 10 gallons of detergent.
Cost: less than $2 per recipe. This will be more for your initial recipe if you don't have the ingredients on hand already. Fels-naptha costs a little over $1, Arm&Hammer Super Washing Soda and Borax are $2-3 each

I do like some scent in my laundry, so using a front-loading machine I use 1/2 cup of the home-made detergent and one squirt (literally, a small squirt) of Gain or All to each load. It is amazing how little store-bought stuff you need to add the fragrance.

Let me know if you decide to try this -- I think you would be pleasantly surprised with the results. :0)

CHEAP grapes @ Walmart

Grapes are only $0.85/lb at WalMart this week!! I cannot remember the last time they were so low. If they have been this summer, this proves how poor my memory is sometimes :)

Anna's kindergarten teacher requires that the kids bring a fruit or veggie EVERY DAY for their snack - which i find to be quite inconvenient - so I bought about 10 lbs to freeze for snacks later this year. Grapes don't get as mushy as blueberries when they thaw.

Remember that WalMart prices vary by store even in the same region, but I bought mine at the Bloomington WalMart on Veterans. You could always call your WalMart to double-check the price before going.

Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs 0.69

A month ago I told you about a high value $1/1 OM hot dog coupon. If you did not get the free hot dogs at Jewel there is another good deal right now.

IGA has hot dogs on sale for $1.69 making them only $0.69 after this coupon.

I do still have a couple of my Q's left and they expire on 10/06 so not much time left!! I ran to WalMart last night and since they match any price I got a few there for the ACTIVE weiner roast this week.

I do have a few extra coupons so let me konw if you want some and can get them from me in the next 2 days.

Free Nabisco Cookies (BOGO)

Today is the first monday of the month so on Nabisco's Facebook page they have a Free pkg of cookies WYB another pkg of cookies and a gallon of milk.

I do not guarantee this is a good deal, but last month I printed it and ended up with milk & 2 pks of oreos for about $3 (thank you, Jewel-Osco). I N-E-V-E-R buy oreos so we have been conserving them and still have 1 pk left.

$2.50/1 Huggies Coupon

There is a new $2.50 off 1 Huggies printable coupon on coupons.com right now! These coupons usually expire 30 days after you print, so it gives us some time to find a sale to combine it with.
I would print mine now just in case it reaches its print limit.

I think there are a few of you near Chicago or Wisconsin that read this, so if you live near a Rite Aid, there is a great deal on these starting tomorrow 10/03/10! -- check out commonsensewithmoney.com for the details (or moneysavingmom.com).

Nivea lip product coupon

Starting on 10/3 Walgreens will have Nivea Lip care on sale for $1 each. Use the following printable coupon to get not one but TWO free Nivea lip products:

Buy two Nivea Lip Care, $1
Use $2/2 Nivea Lip Care printable coupon
Get 2 FREE after coupon!

The sale includes the lip glosses as well. I have never tried these so am excited to try it for free!

This coupon is from the "bricks" website which I have had problems in the past with properly copying the link. If my link does not work, just go to Commonsensewithmoney.com and click through her link. She's a great site to follow anyway so go there even if my link does work! :)

0.50/1 Pillsbury Simply Biscuits

October 1 marks a new month which = new coupons on coupons.com
Among those are two coupons for 0.50 off 1 Pillsbury canned dough. One is for Simply Biscuits and the other for Simply French bread. I am not familiar with the "simply" line, but if you use the coupon at Meijer or Kroger where they double coupons, & of course combine with a sale, these should make for fairly inexpensive canned biscuits.


I also want to grab this opportunity to share my excitement for the day -- it is so nice that people know I am a bargain shopper because my super-duper awesome friend just called me about a John Deere Gator she saw at a garage sale for $200 less than you pay in the store! I have been wanting one for about 3-4 years, but didn't want to pay the high price. YAY! Waiting so often pays off. Thanks, Jamie :0)