Travis
Cost
The Store Bought Stuff [1] : $21.99 for 80 loads (.27 cents per load)
Semi-Home Made [2] : $6.67 for 43 loads (.15 cents per load)
Recipe
One Fels-Naptha bar, grated
One cup borax
One cup washing soda
Mix well. Use 1 tbs per load, double if heavily soiled.
Takes me five minutes for a batch.
One doesn't have to go out of their way to acquire the ingredients. I found everything at Walmart, in the mop and soap aisle.
Commentary
Spending five minutes every six weeks to make up a new batch to save five dollars.
This is a no-brianer. It's a few bucks. Pick up a box of Tide, call it a day. What are you, some kind of freak?
Yet ... it's half (rounding up) the cost per load. Half.
Yet ... five minutes of labor every six weeks is nothing. I spend more time than that blowing my nose, woolgathering, thinking dark thoughts about the government. Five minutes at the kitchen table is lost in the noise of everyday life.
Mr. Bluntobject wrote on the same subject
In the end, this is why I make my own washing-machine soap:
[1] All prices from Amazon, 2012-02-11
Tide Ultra High Efficiency Original Scent Powder
80 Loads
$21.99
Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
55 oz.
$9.175
Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar
5.5 oz.
$3.99
Twenty Mule Borax
76 oz.
$12.92
[2] Really, I'm not eschewing modern prepackaged convenience in favor of brewing my own soap from atomic components. I'm just making my own from the same ingredients that P&G does. Got no time to mine borax.
I'm interested by your soap ideas. Can you break this down a bit? How much does "washing soda" cost? Am I saving 50 cents a week, or $9 ? How much time does it take to make the mix? If I can earn $20+/hr, tax-free, by doing these things, I might. ...but if I'm going to earn $3/hr, and have to story more items under my sink (which is already crammed), then I'm not interested.
Cost
The Store Bought Stuff [1] : $21.99 for 80 loads (.27 cents per load)
Semi-Home Made [2] : $6.67 for 43 loads (.15 cents per load)
Recipe
One Fels-Naptha bar, grated
One cup borax
One cup washing soda
Mix well. Use 1 tbs per load, double if heavily soiled.
Takes me five minutes for a batch.
One doesn't have to go out of their way to acquire the ingredients. I found everything at Walmart, in the mop and soap aisle.
Commentary
Spending five minutes every six weeks to make up a new batch to save five dollars.
This is a no-brianer. It's a few bucks. Pick up a box of Tide, call it a day. What are you, some kind of freak?
Yet ... it's half (rounding up) the cost per load. Half.
Yet ... five minutes of labor every six weeks is nothing. I spend more time than that blowing my nose, woolgathering, thinking dark thoughts about the government. Five minutes at the kitchen table is lost in the noise of everyday life.
Mr. Bluntobject wrote on the same subject
I suspect that the big payoff of making your own dish soap is the making your own part, giving the finger to the world of prepackaged overpriced convenience. Which, now that I spell it out, is pretty persuasive.Yeah!
In the end, this is why I make my own washing-machine soap:
- Being thrifty is it's own reward.
- Pennies make dollars.
- Proverbs 6:6-8.
[1] All prices from Amazon, 2012-02-11
Tide Ultra High Efficiency Original Scent Powder
80 Loads
$21.99
Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
55 oz.
$9.175
Fels-Naptha Laundry Bar
5.5 oz.
$3.99
Twenty Mule Borax
76 oz.
$12.92
[2] Really, I'm not eschewing modern prepackaged convenience in favor of brewing my own soap from atomic components. I'm just making my own from the same ingredients that P&G does. Got no time to mine borax.
