Thursday, April 21, 2011

Cleaning Supplies

Okay - I hate to keep revisiting the laundry soap, but I just made some and it obviously falls under approved topics for this blog!

So I'm desperately behind on laundry and just about out of soap. Fortunately I have everything I could need to make it. I was going to make a large batch, but I still don't have a 5 gallon bucket. Well, I forgot that it needs to sit overnight. Bummer. So I decided to make a batch of powder to have on hand in case the liquid runs up dry again.

I officially prefer the liquid laundry soap because it is cheaper - it's already melted and I feel confident that it will mix will with the cold water. The powder, although you use less, it uses more product and runs out faster. Plus I feel I need to use warm water so it melts and can clean properly. I did find a nifty way to store it though - in an old baby wipes container! With our new lifestyle I just don't have as much Tupperware available!

So onto other cleaning supplies. I have not taken the plunge on a vinegar based cleaning solution - although I am out of Lysol... and can't bring myself to buy more. I did find the Tea Tree Oil... but I didn't like the way it smelled! I'm not about to spend $6 on a little bottle to help the vinegar smell better - when it doesn't smell nice! Although I figure maybe the odor is strong enough to cut through the vinegar - and it's definitely better than vinegar! I looked at Jojoba oil too, and it smelled nice, but not quite as strong... would it cut through the vinegar? So I didn't buy anything. Ugh. Indecision has slowed me down many a times!

I do buy a few "green" cleaners from the store. The first is Method's fabric softener. It's a bit pricey, but I like it alot and I probably will use less(if any) during the summer. (I've not found a home remedy for this.) But for now, I still need a fabric softener. The other was Method's dishwasher soap. It comes in hard pellets, 1 per cycle. I know there are easy homemade dish washing cleaners out there - but even with traditional cleaners, we eventually get a buildup of residue on the dishes. That's when we breakout the (probably) horrible dishwasher cleaner and run that once or twice. So I'm afraid to use a homemade version that had reviews of residue. I suppose it doesn't hurt to try it though. It is expensive.

That's another topic of discussion soon to follow. Money is getting tight - what is going to get cut back with this new lifestyle?