Last week I attended my son's school science fair. There were the usual exhibits, some really, really cool exhibits and a lot of exhibits that I learned from. Two in particular, I would like to share with you as it had to do with frugalness.
Exhibit #1 was on laundry detergent. I know that we have had several posts on laundry and detergents and all, but I thought this might be something you would be interested in still. The students were kind enough to get brand new white socks and then proceed to jump in our Island mud with them on. Anyone who has ever been to PEI knows how hard it is to get our mud out of white clothes. They used several different laundry detergents (Tide, Extra, Purex and Sunlight) to test getting the dirt out of the socks. Then, with the pictures of what the socks looked like before and the actual white socks after they were washed with each detergent, they presented the project.
Which one do you think worked best?
Made your choice?
Okay, so Tide and Extra tide for first place of cleanliness. AND Extra is WAY cheaper! They got it on sale and it worked out to about $0.05 a load. The tide was $0.13 a load. I asked them if that's the detergent their mom always uses and was informed that she always uses Purex and even after the experiment and the cheaper cost of the Extra detergent, she would stay with her brand. Interesting. I also asked them if they tried a homemade detergent, like the one we have mentioned here before or on this site where there are more recipes to try (If someone out there would like to conduct an experiment with all or some of the different homemade laundry soaps, I would be interested in them doing a guest post on here to present their results). They didn't even know you could make detergent, so it wasn't in the mix.
So there you go folks, if you are buying laundry detergent, Extra works equal to Tide and better than Sunlight or Purex. Frugal Lesson #1 learned at the science fair.
Exhibit #2 was on dishwashing soap, like for the sink, not the dishwasher just so we are clear. I can remember an old commercial where they had a sink full of soapy Sunlight water and a HUGE pile of dishes that spanned the entire counter. Their claim was it only took one sink load of water to wash all of these dishes because the soap stayed bubbly the entire time.
You see I don't have a dishwasher so I was VERY interested in seeing what these students had to present. Well, unless you count my husband or I. We alternate every night dishes and putting the children to bed. I don't let my children wash the dishes, because they just don't get as clean. They do get to dry from time to time though.
The student tested four detergents: Sunlight, Palmolive, Ivory, and another one that I can't remember the name of, some store brand type. The winner was the one that produced the most bubbles and that the bubbles lasted the longest. Which one would you think would be the winner?
Make your choice.
I was pleasantly surprised with the winner because its the kind I always use: Palmolive. (Which just for a humourous side note I thought you would like to know that until today, I thought it was called PARmolive! Just the way that I heard it in my head. I never really looked at the name I guess.) Frugal Lesson #2.
So now that you know these two new pieces of information, will it change the way you shop?
Enjoy your day!
Frugality is being more economical and less wasteful.
Showing posts with label laundry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label laundry. Show all posts
Remembering Laundry
If you have been a reader of this blog for awhile you may remember this post I did about laundry detergents? Well, I finally have got around to using the homemade laundry soap. I must say that it works wonderfully. Then again, this is the winter time when our clothes aren't as dirty as say, spring or mud season as I refer to it. I am saving the next bucket of soap for the spring and will give you an update then as to how well it works.
Have you used this soap or another homemade soap before? What are your thoughts on it? What kind of laundry soap do you find works the best for you?
Enjoy your day!
Drying Laundry
Everyone has to do it. No matter who you are. You may be fortunate enough to be able to have someone else do it for you, but laundry still waits for no one.
We all know that hanging the laundry on a clothesline is a great way to save money, and that's great on sunny warm days, but what do you do the rest of the time? I couldn't even use my drying racks that much, because I didn't have fires going all the time in the stove. I will admit that last month with the amount of rain that we had here, my dryer was used WAY more than I like. I realized that once my power bill came in. Between the dryer and the dehumidifier going from the wood coming in, it went up $25!
What about in the winter, what do you do for your laundry? I can remember my mom hanging it out on a sunny winter day when the temperature got above zero. I do the same, but the rest of the time it is mostly my dryer.
I also use drying racks around my wood stove. Not only does it help lower the drying costs, it increases the humidity, something that is desperately needed in the winter in our home. I just pop it in the dryer for 5-10 minutes before it goes on the rack to get rid of the lint and get the fabric softener going through it as I don't have the nice Island wind in my home to take it all off.
Tell me, do you have any laundry secrets that we can use to save some money? We would love to hear from you.
Enjoy your day!
Laundry, laundry and more laundry
Does it ever seem like it's all you do? We are a family of 6 and it's amazing how much laundry is generated through a week. We are starting to look at the merits of a front loading washing machine to lower the cost of electricity, be more efficient and, of course, to be more environmentally conscience.
To lower my costs of laundry (I do about 15 loads a week), we wash in cold water and hang my clothes on the clothesline as much as possible. I buy laundry detergent on sale and try not to wash clothes just because (you know, those lovely clothes that the children put in the wash because they looked at them). I guess I am also blessed enough to have a washing machine that folds clothes during the wash cycle and even pairs socks together! I know, it's the children being lazy, but I wish that the machines had that option; then again, they probably wouldn't be folded the way that I would want and I would have to redo them all.
Where is this leading to? Well, lately there has been a lot of talk from the people around me about making your own laundry detergent. It equates to about 3 cents a load with this recipe. Since we love to pinch pennies, I am giving it to you:
Homemade Laundry Soap
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap (sunlight)
1/2 cup washing soda (arm and hammer makes this and it's in the laundry detergent aisle)
1/2 cup borax
6 cups water
4 cups hot water
1 gallon and 6 cups more water
You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallons in size
Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket. Now add mixture and stir. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for 24 hours and it will gel. Use 1/2 cup per load.
** Some people like a little extra cleaning boost to the recipe so they double the amount of borax and washing soda, this only very mildly effects the cost and may help if you feel you need it.
Here is my disclaimer- I have NEVER tried it. I have two buckets of it in the laundry room that have been given to me, but I have enough other detergent to go through before I get to that rotation. I stock up when it's on sale. I have no idea how well it works on Island dirt, but heard from a friend that she got grass stains out with it. I will update on this when I get to that part of my laundry storage.
Should you not want to or have the desire to make your own soap, and you aren't a diehard one type of soap user, there are some brands that are on sale this week. Sobeys has Xtra 2x Concentrated Liquid Laundry Detergent on for buy one get one free; 2/$9.99. It equates out to about 5 cents a load and you don't have to make it! Coop has ABC 2x liquid on for $3.00 (if you have a membership) for 42 loads. It equates out to 7 cents a load.
What do you use? Any laundry tips to share with the rest of us to lower our prices? I look forward to hearing from you. Happy laundering.
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