Homemade Laundry Soap!!??

OK......Have any of you ever watched the Duggars on Lifetime television??? I am always interested in how others save money. I have never seen the show..because we save money and don't have those cable channels :)..... but one of my friends told me about how their family makes their own liquid laundry soap. I was curious so I looked it up on the web and sure enough I found the recipe. This was my issue......with 7 of us.....laundry detergent is quite expensive! I started using the cheap stuff and our clothes started stinking...UUGG.

So I thought this seems way to simple to actually work.....will my clothes smell fresh or will they start to smell stale?? Will it get out the normal stains???? The cost is so low per recipe that I decided to give it a try. Much, much, much to my surprise it works!!!! I have been using it for 6 weeks now without any problems! Love it! What an easy way to save some cash!

Here is the low down...... total cost per recipe less than $3.....yep you saw that right less than $3.00 for so many loads!!!!!

Top Load......5/8 cup....180 loads
Front Load...1/4 cup.....640 loads

Here is how I made it:

*1 bar Fels Naptha Soap(I found this at Publix on the laundry aisle)
*1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda...not baking soda!!!!
*1/2 cup 20 mule Borax
*1 teaspoon Shaklee Basic H( I use this stuff for EVERYTHING!! So many uses...without chemicals! Order Here) Duggars recipe does not call for this ingredient I added it because I love it!
*one 5 gallon bucket with lid

Cut up bar soap in very small pieces or grate and put it in a pot with 4 -5 cups of hot water.....turn on medium low heat and stir occasionally until soap is completely melted.

In the 5 gallon bucket combine Washing Powder, Borax and fill half way with hot tap water. Continue stirring occasionally until powders are dissolved completely. After the powder dissolves add the teaspoon of Basic H(this product is a fabulous cleaner and degreaser....it is very concentrated!) When all of the bar soap is melted add to the bucket and stir.

Add water to the top of the bucket and continue to stir. When you have is all well incorporated......put the lid on it and leave it overnight. When you open it up you will have a yellowish....semi jelly looking goo......I promise this is OK!!! Fill one of you old liquid containers half way with solution and the rest with water and shake until it is mixed....then you are ready to go.

Remember......it does not take as much of this solution as others.....measure out the amount you need....see above....If you are using your old liquid lid you may want to make a mark on the lid at the proper measure!

When you run out refill half way again...add your water and shake....make sure you get you lid back on the concentrate tightly and it will stay fresh for months! I re-stir the "goo" every time I refill. This cleaner smells fresh but it does not have a strong scent....I use a fabric softener with a strong scent because we like it! You may want to use unscented softener of none at all!!

Let me know what you think!!! I put a picture below of all the ingredients so that you will know what you are looking for!!!

Casting the net!

My man has had so many opportunities to share the Gospel in the past few weeks. Last week he share twice with football teams and 6 players came to know Christ. Friday he spoke at a public middle school and 24 kids prayed to receive the Lord. Tonight he presented the gospel on the 50 yard line and 5 football players and a coach gave their hearts to Jesus!! Casting the net...that is what He calls us to do!!!! He does the calling we do the sharing!

Thanks for the prayers

Thank you so much for the emails, visits and even the offer for meals!!! I have great friends! After excruciating pain for 10 days...lots and lots of pain medication, x-rays and an MRI....the pain began to subside on Saturday. I kept my appointment with the Dr. today and was told that indeed I have a rotator cuff tear, however it is NOT a full thickness tear and therefore will not require surgery. Thank you Jesus!!!!! On top of the tear the MRI showed that I have tendinitis and bursitis....I do not understand how that machine can show all of that! I really do feel so much better!!! You can pray if you think about it.... The DR....said that it is really odd all that is going on with my shoulder without a major injury.....so what does that mean...he isn't sure! I have many new shoulder exercises to do to try to strengthen the area and I praying that I will not have another episode however I will tell you that outside of the pain which was horrible and remember I have delivered an 11 pound baby vaginally!!!!! I enjoyed laying in my bed doing homeschool and the sweet way that my family took care of me!!!!

Emily's Birthday

This past weekend we celebrated Emily's 12th birthday......I know every parent says this but where in the world does the time go? What a sweet, sweet girl she is!!!! Her passion in life is to help handicapped children through horse therapy....she loves horses!! It is so neat to watch her with these horses...really just about any animal...but her heart is in the barn! It will be neat to see how the Lord uses her talent. She has had many wonderful blessings that are undoubtedly from the Lord.

She had a blast at her party with her cousins as you can see from the facials!

One of her gifts was a makeup bag with mascara and sparkly eyeshadow.....she was thrilled. At 12 it will be lite but she was happy.....of course I think she is beautiful with no makeup!

Her brothers visited the dollar store and chose these gifts for her...she was very gracious and made them feel very special!

This Stinks!!!

I have had the strangest thing happen to me!!!!! I woke up last Thursday morning- 9 days ago- with a stiff shoulder. By Thursday night I was in unbelievable pain. I couldn't move my arm without terrible pain! I kept thinking it would get better because I didn't do anything to bring this on but it did not!

I finally went to the Dr. and he thinks I have a torn rotator cuff that will require surgery! WHAT! I had an MRI this past Thursday and I meet with the Dr on Tuesday. I am really drugged up so I'm not in so much pain but I still have almost no movement in my shoulder. When this happens to the arm that you use the most you become acutely aware of how many things you do with your right arm! I have also realized how much my 5 children....and husband:) hang on me! I feel like some kind of martial arts performer throwing my left arm out the second I see someone coming toward me....trying to defend myself! Obviously..typing is a slow process...this is why I haven't posted in a while. I love you guys out there in the blog world and I am praying for you!

Traditions

12 years ago my husband and his brother, Brent, started making picks of who they thought would win each week in all the NFL games. Whoever wins at the end of each year gets "The Helmsman" award...which is a trophy that they add a medal plate to each year with the date and the winner for the season. That brother gets to keep the trophy for the year along with bragging rights. This past year our son Benjamin wanted to join in...so Eric decided to make a "Helmsman Kids" award. If the truth be known Benjamin beat his father and his uncle with the most picks. Eric found the time to male the trophy and start a new tradition with our kids. They are all excited to join in this year and make their picks....this football season should be interesting!
Kids LOVE traditions!! I would love to hear about yours!

Welcome!!

Welcome those of you coming from the Thrify Mama site!!! If you didn't come via her site then you will definitely want to check out her great site for deals on organic and whole foods as well as all the great money saving tips she offers! She is wonderful! She just started a new forum as well with lots of great information for mama's!! Take a look and let me know what you think!