Orange Enzyme, Part 2...

On March 4th, I started an orange enzyme cleaner. It needed to sit until June 4th, three whole months.

I thought, "There's no way I'm gonna be able to wait three months for this to be done. That's way too long..."

Well, June 4th came and went and I am just now getting around to doing something with it.

Oh well. The waiting isn't hard when you are kept busy.

Here's what it looked like when I started...

And here's what it looks like now, just over three months later...

Time to get a bottle and see how it works. I'll let you know...

{hugs}

Laura

Laundry Soap - Take 2...

I have been making liquid laundry soap for almost a year now and I really like it. I takes about 30 minutes to make and then you let it sit for 24 hours to gel-up before it can be used.

But, I wanted something easier and making the powder version is.

First, I grated one bar of Fels-Naptha soap. I used a large zester, which is a really fine grater, to do this.

I worked great. It made a very fine shred which was easy to mix with the powder ingredients.

Then I added one cup each of Borax, washing soda and baking soda.

After breaking up the larger chunks of Borax and washing soda with my hands, I mixed it together really good.

I'm storing it in a Mason jar. Just two tablespoons for a large dirty load or one tablespoon for a smaller load. This recipe should be good for about 30 loads of laundry.

I'm on my second weekend of laundry using it and I am very happy with it. 

{hugs}
Laura

Kitchen Sink Faucet...

I saw this post about cleaning hard water build up today on The Thrifty Home blog. Our kitchen faucet has always had this problem and no matter how hard you scrub, it doesn't come off. So I tore a few paper towels off the role, soaked them in vinegar and placed them on the areas needed. 30 minutes later the hard water scum came off really easy. I also put vinegar in the tray under the water dispenser in the fridge door and it's nice and clean too. I am very happy to have found this blog post.

{hugs}
Laura

Before...

After... 

Before...

After...

I was shocked to see how built up the hard water scum was on the faucet/sprayer...

And happy to see it gone. After soaking it in a cup of vinegar, I used an old tooth brush to clean it off.

 

Laundry Soap...

I do a lot of laundry.

With four grown people in my house, two of them being high schoolers that both play sports, I do about 10 + large loads of laundry a weekend. At the time I found the shower cleaner recipe I also found one for laundry soap. Well, I just made my second batch and I love it. It's easy to make, works very good and saves a lot of money.  You can find the recipe here ---> Homemade Laundry Soap.

So you know, washing soda is very hard to find in my area. But, after a little research I found that washing soda is soda ash which is used to control the ph in swimming pools. You can also order washing soda online.

I found a couple of recipes for laundry soap that use baking soda instead of washing soda or add it in along with the washing soda. The two are very different from each other and there is some controversy about using baking soda over washing soda.

The laundry soap works great. Everything smells clean with no heavy perfume smell. If there is a heavily soiled area, I pour some on the spot and rub it in before I put it in the washer.

I am happy to make it simply for the amount of money it saves me. Money, of coarse, that can be spent on more yarn - that makes me very happy.

{hugs}
Laura

Shower Cleaner...

So, I have to share with you the fabulous homemade soap scum cleaner that I found a couple of weeks ago. I tried it today for the first time - and it's FABULOUS! So easy to make, so easy to use. My shower and tub are so clean. You must try it.

1 cup white vinegar
1 cup Dawn dish soap
1 spray bottle

Heat vinegar in glass measuring cup for 2 minutes in the microwave. Pour it into a spray bottle. Add the Dawn dish soap. Mix and spray. Coat everything very good and walk away. After it's good and dry (I waited an hour) take a sponge or wash cloth and get it good and wet (I even wet the shower walls down too), wipe away and be AMAZED.

I have never used anything that clean the shower so well. No scrubbing needed. You will love it.

You will have to let me know if you tried and what you thought...

{hugs}
Laura