Laundry Tips!

I know this post may not be too exciting...but this is what's on my mind tonight.  And if I blog it, I won't lose the info!!!  Ha.  After cruising around blogworld for ways to get hard water off my faucets, I was intrigued by all the postings about how to make "cheap" laundry soap.  You all know the Dugger's???!!! They are the reality tv family with a zillion kids.  Not much of a fan of the show (but I know Elyse LOVES them..haha), but there are all kinds of postings raving about the soap they use for laundry....and they must do a boatload of laundry.  So you know me. I went out, bought me some ingredients...and the rest is history.

Powdered Laundry Soap: 

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar

1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (not baking soda..you find it in laundry detergent section)

½ Cup Borax

-Grate soap or break into pieces and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients. For light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons. Yields: 3 Cups detergent. (Approx. 40 loads)

The 'ingredients' cost about $5 and got them at my local Winco.  I should have taken a photo of Jake's baseball pants the other day.  They are brand new WHITE pants and were filthy after his last game.  There was that icky red dirt and he LOVES to slide.  He also had grass stains all over the knees and had chocolate from his after game snack after using the pants as a napkin.  I did rub a bar of the soap over the tougher stains, filled my washer with hot water and soaked the pants for about 15 minutes before starting the cycle.  I was shocked when they came out good as new!!! Not a stain anywhere. 

Fabric Softener:  Ok, I can't STAND to pay $7 or more for a stupid little bottle of Downy.  But, I do love the smell.  So I tried a tip on using vinegar in the wash cycle in place of fabric softener.  I just pour the vinegar right into my fabric softener dispenser and it WORKS LIKE A CHARM!!  Doesn't make anything smell bad and I haven't noticed the static cling...which is mainly why I use fabric softener.  Nevada is DRY!!!  (The bumper stickers also say its not a wasteland, but I beg to differ.)  Anyway, this is one tip that worked for me and vinegar is like $1.50 at my local WallyMart.

Ok...sorry for the boring post but thought someone could use a helping hand in the laundry room.  Thank heavens I have two helping hands....named TiM!  One of the benefits of him being home on medical leave is that he does most the laundry.  Can I get a "Hip hip hooray" for Tim!!