Embracing Him

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. (Proverbs 31:27)

Our area was hit with a huge snowstorm yesterday, so this weekend the Thorpe family has been enjoying quality time together inside our cozy home. We’ve had a ball making Christmas crafts, playing boards games, and romping in the snow.

Those activities are enjoyable, but when bad weather hits, one of my favorite things to do is cook. This weekend, I’ve made two delicious big breakfasts using my new waffle maker, prepared a fabulously filling bean soup, and I am planning to bake Christmas cookies and cupcakes with the girlies this afternoon.

Though cooking is one of my favorite activities, washing dishes is not.  So as not to risk dishpan hands, I loaded up the dishwasher. Once the dishes were in, I reached under the sink to grab the dishwasher detergent and discovered we had none.

The lack of detergent irked me for three reasons. First, I found myself unprepared. I pride myself on maintaining a well stocked pantry and I have no idea how I slipped up and let the dishwasher detergent get so low! Next, since there is at least a foot and a half of snow outside, no one will be making a trip to the grocery store today. Finally, I wasn’t looking forward to washing that many dishes by hand.

Thankfully, the recollection of a conversation I’d had a few months ago saved me time. While at our homeschool cooperative, another mom and I were conversing about the joys of homemade laundry detergent. (Check out the recipe I use here.) During our chat, she explained that homemade dishwasher detergent works well and she shared the recipe she uses. I  scribbled it down on a piece of paper and stuck it in a drawer once I got home.

Earlier today, I retrieved the scribbled note and made my own detergent. Since the recipe includes some of the same ingredients as the laundry detergent, I was able to locate most of the ingredients in my pantry and laundry room. According to this mom, the salt acts as a scrubber while the citric acid or lemonade mix works to add shine to the dishes. She also recommends adding vinegar to the rinse compartment to at least 1 cup of vinegar in order to combat any haze, buildup, film, or water spots that may be left on the dishes.

I’m now a fan of homemade dishwasher detergent! It worked well and costs much less than the Cascade detergent I used to love!

Powdered Dishwasher Detergent
1 cup Borax (20 Mule Team)
1 cup washing soda (Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda)
1/2 cup Kosher salt
1/4 cup citric acid or 4 packages unsweetened Lemon Kool Aid

Use 2 tablespoons per load.

Photo: Courtesy of justmakeit (Flickr)

She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. (Proverbs 31:27)

Some of the ladies on the forums I frequent have long been singing the praises of homemade laundry detergent. The ladies claim their detergent is much more cost effective and works just as well, if not better than, supermarket detergent.

The cost of laundry detergent and fabric softener continues to rise and even with coupons and sales I’m still spending more than I want to spend on laundry supplies. Yesterday I decided to make my own detergent and see if all the hype was worth believing.

I found recipes for both liquid and powdered detergents but opted to create a powder because I didn’t feel like boiling soap and water on my stovetop. Before yesterday, I couldn’t remember the last time I used powdered detergent, but from now on I’ll definitely be using my own. The ladies were right. It works well, is easy to make, and is cost effective.

Because I wanted to make a large batch of detergent (15 quarts!), it took me a couple of hours to make the detergent. You can make much less in a much shorter amount of time. I found all of my ingredients in local stores, though I couldn’t find everything in one store.

Homemade Laundry Detergent
2 bars soap, finely grated (Fels Naptha)
1 cup washing soda (Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda)
1 cup borax (20 Mule Team Borax)
1 cup Oxyclean (my own personal addition)

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Store in an airtight container. Use 2 tablespoons for a regular load of laundry and 3 tablespoons for a heavily soiled load of laundry.

While shopping for ingredients, creating the detergent, and using it I learned a few things that may help should you wish to make your own detergent.

1. You may need to stop at a few different stores to find the ingredients. I found 20 Mule Team Borax at WalMart in the detergent aisle ($2.98 for a huge 4 lb 12 oz box) and also picked up a generic version of Oxyclean called Sun Oxygen Cleaner ($1.96 for a 30 ounce tub). I purchased the Fels Naptha soap ($1.09 per bar) and Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda ($3.98 for a 3 lb 7 oz box) at Wegman’s. Both were in the detergent aisle.
2. Grating soap can be challenging.  I began by using the box grating method others recommended but quickly ended up with a clogged and useless grater. I abandoned the box grater, cut the soap into smaller chunks, and grated it in my food processor.
3. Some soaps grate more easily than others. It all depends on the hardness of the soap. Harder soaps are easier to grate than soft soaps. Fels Naptha soap and the Zest Ocean Spray are hard and grated much more easily than the Dial soap I first tried. I ended up using them all so as not to waste, but in the future, I’ll stick with hard soaps.
4. Choose a soap you like. Most recipes recommend Fels Naptha (I didn’t care for its strong odor), but you can use any type of soap you like. Just stay away from  soaps with oils or extra moisturizers (such as Dove) because they may leave stains or residue on clothes. Some ladies even save soap slivers and later grate them for use in detergent.



5. Don’t worry if all of the soap isn’t finely grated. Grate it as best as you can. Even after whizzing through the food processor, my soap still had a few stubborn lumps. This wasn’t a problem as the soap completely dissolved even in cold water washing.
6. Clothes won’t be heavily scented, but they’ll be clean. Since there aren’t lots of perfumes and dyes in this recipe (aside from what’s in the soap), your freshly laundered clothes won’t have the heavy perfume odor you may be used to. You’ll be able to look at the clothes and see that they’re clean and they’ll smell fresh too. They’ll just be lacking the familiar and heavy laundry scent.

My Downy Dependency was starting to pack a punch in my purse, so I also made homemade fabric softener. This was extremely easy to make and worked well too. The recipe does call for vinegar, but don’t worry. Your clothes will not smell like vinegar. In fact, the only person who’ll know it’s there is you!

When I use 1  1/2 times the recipe, it makes nearly 64 ounces of softener which is enough to fit in my old Downy bottle. When mixing the ingredients be sure to add the vinegar to the baking powder slowly. It will fizz (remember those grade school volcano experiments?) and may overflow if you don’t pour slowly. The essential oil is optional but lavender, rose, or grapefruit would be wonderful additions to the softener.

Homemade Fabric Softener
2 cups white vinegar
2 cups baking soda
4 cups water
5-10 drops of your favorite essential oil (optional)

Combine slowly and carefully pour into a plastic bottle. Place a lid on the bottle and shake. Shake well before each use.

If you’re looking for a homemaking challenge or want to save a few dollars, give these recipes a try. Your clothes and your wallet will thank you!

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 1:3)

A few weeks ago, I grabbed my laptop and headed up to the bedroom. I climbed into bed, got comfy under the blankets, propped the laptop across my legs, and began surfing around online.

Eventually JT ventured upstairs to see if I was okay. He opened the bedroom door, saw me in bed with the computer, and said, “Andrea! What’s up with this? The laptop has taken my place in bed?!” We shared a good laugh and then I introduced him to my newest computer obsession: Swagbucks!

Over the past few months, I’d noticed Swagbucks buttons and banners all over the internet and found bloggers happily singing the praises of Swagbucks. I initially dismissed the bloggers’ excitement because I thought they’d fallen victim to yet another big internet scam. However, curiosity soon got the best of this cat, so I did some research and found Swagucks to be a legitimate way of earning some good freebies.

Swagbucks are cyber dollars you can easily earn and redeem for great rewards such as gift cards. Here’s how it works. Register with Swagbucks and download their search engine. Whenever you perform a search, use the Swagbucks search engine and you’ll earn Swagbucks as you surf. You’ll know when you’ve earned a Swagbuck because an alert will appear on your computer screen. You can snag even more Swagbucks by doing your usual online shopping with stores who have partnered with Swagbucks (Walmart, Office Depot, Apple iTunes, Avon, Dick’s Sporting Goods just to name a few). Once you’ve earned enough Swagbucks, you can redeem them at the Swag Store for gift cards and other store merchandise.

Here are few things to keep in mind.

• The Swagbucks search engine is powered by Google and Ask, so you receive quality search results.
• You will not earn Swagbucks every time you perform a search. Swagbucks are awarded randomly, but I usually earn 3 to 5 a day just by searching as I normally would.
• Searching is not the only way to earn Swagbucks. If you refer your friends, you’ll earn Swagbucks. If you find a Swag code during a Swag Hunt, you’ll earn Swagbucks. (These codes expire quickly so once you find one, be sure to input it right away.) If you email a photo of yourself and your Swag prize, you can earn a Swagbuck.

Though I certainly don’t need another reason to linger on the laptop, I couldn’t resist becoming a Swaggernaut! I’m well on my way to earning some great rewards, so I thought I’d share my discovery with others who might be interested.

Photo: Courtesy of Carly Jane 1 (Flickr)