Keeping it Clean: The Fine Art of DIY Cleaners. Pt 1

I am SO excited to be blogging today. So excited!!!

As you may know (and if you don't, where have you been???), I'm into DIY... everything. Anything I can make at home, I'm going to. So with all the chatter I've seen online about DIY cleaners, I thought "Hey! I should share some of my most favorite, super awesome, home made cleaner recipes!"

(Inner Erin is very enthusiastic about sharing!)

So for the next few weeks, I'm going to be doing just that! Tell you're friends, tell your family! Because my first post, dear reader, is for something that you probably use several times a week.

Laundry Detergent!

I don't know about you but I HATE buying laundry detergent. With two kids and a messy husband (okay... I'm the messy one. Sigh.) I do A LOT of laundry.

(AKA, Jon does. What can I say? I hate doing laundry MORE than buying detergent.)

So rather than spending the bajillions of dollars on detergent and fabric softener, I just make my own. And making the laundry detergent is saving me, oooooh, about $200. At least.

Wanna know the recipe? Wanna???

Sugar Crumbs Totally Sweet, Totally Cheap (but awesomely effective!) DIY Laundry Detergent

• 1 box of borax (76 oz)
• 1 box of washing soda (55 oz)
• 3 bars of Fels Naptha or Pink Zote

Start by shredding the three bars into a lined bucket. I just line it was a garbage bag and use a hand grater.

(A food processor will work as well, but I'm not sure I'd use it for food ever again.)

Once you've shredded all of the bars, add the entire box of borax AND the entire box of washing soda.

Mix thoroughly.

Pour into a cute (or in my case, closest) empty container.

The. End.

Seriously. That's it. So let's add up the total cost.

The box of Borax was $4.39. I used the 20 Mule Team Borax. The box of washing soda was $2.99. My brand of choice was Arm and Hammer. And the Fels Naptha bars were .99 a piece. That brings us to a grand total of...

$10.35.

Now, are you ready for the awesome part?

You only use ONE TABLESPOON per load.

Which means this laundry detergent will last 1 year. That's doing laundry 7x a week (which is what the average American is doing weekly!)

So here are some key notes before I sign off!

• Suds do NOT equal clean. This is a low suds detergent. Which means this detergent is H.E. effective :)
• It is cloth diaper safe!
• If you feel you need extra cleaning powers (aka you're the mother of messy little boys!), feel free to add a small container of Oxy Clean.
• And last, but not least, enjoy the amazing smell of the detergent as you make it! I love how my house smells laundry detergent day!

There ya have it! Home made detergent, tried and true. Hope you love it as much as we do!

** Have any cleaner recipes you'd like to share? Or interested in seeing something in particular posted? Leave me a comment or email me at yaysugarcrumbs@gmail.com!**