Homemade Laundry Detergent and Multi-Purpose Cleaner

My husband and I have been working our hardest to pay off the mountain of student loan debt that we accrued. This is one reason why I went on a search for ways to cut costs and lower our monthly bills. One thing that I have started doing to help slash our grocery store bill, is to make my own household cleaners. So far, I've tried two of the many. many on my list. Here are the recipes for creating your own green, inexpensive, and healthy products.

Laundry Detergent:

- 4 Cups of Hot Water
- 1 Dial Basics Hypo-Allergenic Soap Bar (Dollar Tree 3-Pack)
- 1 Cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (Bi-Mart)
- 1/2 Cup Borax (Bi-Mart)

1. Grate the bar of soap into the hot water. Put on medium heat until soap is melted. Stir constantly.
*This takes quite a while, even with a small bar of soap, so plan accordingly.

2. Fill a 5 gallon bucket halfway with hot tap water. Add soap mixture, washing soda, and borax. Stir until everything has dissolved. Then fill the remainder of the bucket with more hot tap water and stir again.

3. Fill an empty laundry soap container halfway, then fill with more hot tap water.

4. Each time you use the soap, shake up well (it will get clumpy, if you don't). You only need about 1/4 cup for each load.

This one batch will last forever, and is much cheaper than even one jug of store bought laundry detergent. This soap works on front and top load machines, as well as high efficiency. I was a bit skeptical about the ability of this soap to get my clothes clean, but it does it amazingly! The laundry smells fresh and clean when it comes out of the dryer, and there is no need for fabric softener (at least we don't think so).
It has gotten stains out of my son's shirts that our regular detergent would not have gotten out without a stain remover. You can still use stain removing products with this detergent, if you need to. We are very happy with this recipe!

Original recipe from the Duggar Family website, but I changed the bar soap to fit our family's hyper-sensitive skin. Here is the link to their website: http://www.duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/Homemade%2520Liquid%2520Laundry%2520Soap-%2520Front%2520or%2520top%2520load%2520machine-%2520best%2520value

Multi-Purpose Cleaner:

- Orange Peels
- Vinegar
- Air-Tight Jar

This is the easiest recipe ever, and you can use it for so many things! All you do, is fill a jar with orange peels, then fill with vinegar, and let it sit for two weeks. After two weeks, take out the orange peels and put the liquid into a spray bottle. Your done! This cleaner smells wonderful, and does a great job cleaning all sorts of things. I love it because I can use it on our kid's toys and in our kitchen, without worrying about chemicals. This cleaner is cheap, easy, and green.