Cleaning on a Budget 1: Laundry

Lately we've seen what it means to literally 'pinch pennies'. While money is tight" we had to get smart when it comes to necessary purchases. Laundry soap, is no exception.  With toddlers/kids, and pets; paired with a mom that is a house cleaner (coming home with all kinds of stains on clothes), our laundry is often filled with yucky stains and odors. Many of the homemade recipes just didn't do the job we needed, but spending $20 on a gallon of detergent, $10 on whitening detergent and $10 on fabric softner was not in the budget. Plus the cost of washing all this laundry.

Here's what we did:
1. Our electricity company offers free electricity on Saturdays; we do almost the wash on Saturdays and fold as a family on Sundays. (Also a great way to catch up on TV shows/movies we never have time during the week, and we avoid leaving the house and spending a fortune).
2. 1 box borax washing booster (about $4 local grocery store), 1 large box baking soda ($2 local grocery store) - this takes out most odors and stains, and leaves clothes very clean.
3. Purchase the cheapest detergents we can on sale, one without fragrance - usually it's All or Generic brand (spend $4-5 for 17 oz)
4. Local dollar stores carry great smelling fabric softners, we purchase 4 at a time ($4)
5. For whites, 1 large bottle peroxide ($1.50 at local grocery stores)

This provides us with 1 month of laundry soap for only $15-$16* for a family of 4 humans and 3 pets. Including all my cleaning rags and fabrics (which is 4 loads of laundry a week), potty training bedding (these get washed almost daily), and pets bedding we wash about twice a week.

Tips:
Laundry - mix in 5 qt storage plastic box (size of a shoe box) the borax and baking soda. Add 1 capful (we use the detergent cap) to washing machine (safe for he washers too!), and 1/2 capful of detergent (creates the soapy foam). Then add your fabric softner. Wash on high temp for most clothes, unless you're afraid of shrinking. The borax will help persevere clothes color, we never have issues with fading and we mix loads all the time!

Whites, add 1/3 capful peroxide to the detergent and wash on high.

For blood or body related stains saturate stain in peroxide for 2 min, then soak for 15 min in hot water with 1/2 cup of kosher salt. Stains will come right out. Then wash as normal.  Safe for colors too!