Simple....

I am a simple gal. I have too much to do in a day with one in school, 2 to home school and 2 in diapers. Simple is the name of the game. I also want things in as much bulk as possible, readily available and inexpensive. SIMPLE! Maybe not quite as simple as my brother who says you should never spend more time cooking that eating. In other words if it takes longer to cook something than to eat it....then don't. Unfortunately that doesn't work in our house unless you are considering the fact that I cook for a quarter of the year in about 5 hours on a Saturday with 3 amazing women. That post has been brewing now for months, but I keep putting off posting it. Too much to write and I just don't seem to make it make sense...yet. I digress...

Laundry detergent: This has simplified my life and saved me money. Go to www.thefamilyhomestead.com to check out more details than I will give here. She breaks it down to the penny how it costs. You can also go to www.tipnut.comfor the dry recipe. I started making the liquid and went to dry. I can't tell the difference in our clothes. The liquid makes a TON more, but it is WAY more work and since you are using HOT water you can't have little ones around. Plus it takes more to wash with.  The dry one can be made in small batches in a very short amount of time. Most recipes call for Fels Naptha Soap. I have NEVER been able to put my hands on this locally therefore I went for Dove (Locke has sensitive skin) and even did a naughty thing and used....wait for it, wait for it....scented soap once. The sites say to never do this. Quite frankly that just made me want to use it all the more!I'm a rebel like that.  (Since this post our Walmart now carries Fels Naptha and since it is cheaper, that is what I buy.

I use:

1 bar of soap; grated (my kids love to grate soap for me...like they have a choice),

Fels Naptha, Dove, etc (not usually highly scented...at least that's what they say)

1 C Washing Soda, not baking soda, and

1 C of Borax

Orange essential oil (you can use any scent you would like) We LOVE this scent.

We use the Orange essential oil in our rainbow as well and every time we vacuum, the whole house smells DE LIGHT FUL!

     These are not super easy to locate, but between our Kroger and Drug Emporium I can usually get them. (Whohoo...as of 1/1012 our Walmart now carries them)!  They are CHEAP and last a long time even in our family of 7 (now 8) with babies that go through several outfits a day. Mix them all together. It is a challenge to get the essential oil in since it is liquid, but it works. Just keep stirring. I put it in a large formula container. The liquid one was in a 5 gallon jug and then I transferred it to an old Gain (or whatever) container for ease of pouring. The liquid is yucky to look at, but just stir it up before use and you are good to go. This will NOT make a lot of soapy looking detergent so don't look for it. We love it.

Household Wipes: I use any kind of cleaning concentrate and measure it accordingly. Ex. Pine Sol. Take 2 C of water and add the appropriate amount of the cleaner. Cut your Bounty wipes in half with a bread knife. I don't recommend any other kind of paper towels! These truly are the best!!! Mix the liquid in a round container that the half roll of paper towels can fit in and then put them paper towels in rough edge down. Put on the lid and turn the container upside down to let it soak. Once it has soaked, pull the middle part out and pull from the center. This is an easy way to wipe down, tables, counter tops or bathrooms and costs a whole lot less that the ones you buy in the store. Now you are saving money and not throwing away a ton of containers because you are reusing containers!

There will be more later. I have gone away from many of my cleaners in favor of cheaper, easier, more natural products. I make most of them now. BTW Alcohol cleans your mirrors better than anything! I don't mean liquor! Now if you drink liquor and clean....just kidding!