Homemade Laundry Soap How To

Hey all! It's been awhile since we had a tutorial, eh? I finally had a chance to make some laundry soap over winter break! I had made it quite frequently before but once I returned to work I didn't have time for it. .

The recipe comes originally from Arkansas Soaper. I don't make as much at one setting as she did, so my measurements are
3 Cups Borax
2 Cups Baking Soda
2 Cups Washing Soda
2 Cups Grated Soap

The washing soda is sodium carbonate and is found in the pool cleaning department of any major retailer. For the grated soap, I use handmade soap I buy from some fabulous sellers. I usually buy mine from CosmicCleanBody  If you have a favorite handmade soaper, see if they will sell you their "uglies"...the soaps that aren't quite up to par but still smell lovely.

I followed her directions for the powdered soap, and she is very correct that it's way easier if you grate the soap with a salad shooter. I too found mine on Ebay and it works great.

 Isn't the grated soap pretty?

Once the soap is grated, and your powdered items are measured out (wear a mask to keep from inhaling the borax and washing soda.) I add a bit of soap and a bit of powdered materials into a blender to blend it super fine, so it washes correctly.

Follow her directions and pulse the blender to grind up the ingredients. This keeps it all soft and powdery!

Once it's all grated up and in your storage container, give it a few shakes (see the layers in mine, that means it needs to be shook up) and you're good to go! She suggests using 1/8 cup per load.

Depending on where you buy your soap from, this laundry detergent is far far cheaper than store bought and much greener. I have heard some people add oxi-clean, which I would probably suggest if you had any athletes in your house or garden, or anything particularly messy. I find this one works well for us, I even used in back in my cloth diapering days.

Hope this saves you some pennies in the new year for laundry!

~~Amy

Wordless Wednesday

Original Photography. ©Amy Dutsch 2011

Green and Clean with Micro Mops!

Hey gang! If you haven't heard yet, I have a little shop with my friend Dee called Micro Mops! Our goals are simple---keep your world clean, green and on a budget!! We aim for products that save you money and time!

Our most popular products are our Reusable Swiffer Wet Jet Pads. These nifty little pads keep you from having to toss out all those disposable pads! I'm still using my original set of pads I made myself over a year ago!

We also have Reusable Swiffer Sweeper Pads, Magnets, Altered Clothespins, Grocery Bag Holders, Clothespin Bags, Free Tips, Cleaning Mixes and Recipes and more! If it saves you time, money and is eco friendly, we're hoping to have it in the shop!

Do you have a green tip you can share with us?  Or perhaps you have a non green confession? I have one. One of my time savers is not very eco friendly or cheap. I use paper plates for the kids little snacks. I suppose in the long run it's not horribly un-eco-friendly---after all, I'm not using extra loads of water and soap in cleaning my dishes right? Okay, I honestly don't know what is worse on the earth and my pocketbook, the paper plates or the extra dishes cleaning---but using the plates saves me time and sanity!!!


You can also check us out on Artfire!!!

So, if you need some (mostly) green items for keeping your house clean and save you some time, hop on over to Micro Mops. Our altered clothespins and magnets are also a pretty way to dress up your fridge and office and make your boring to-do's a little less boring!

Thanks for taking a peek! :)
~~Amy

It's Earth Day for Crying Out Loud!

Hey folks...ok...so I do not usually do 'rant' posts and I'm sure by rant standards this will be mild...but I just had to.

I am not what one would call a 'tree hugger' or huge Earth Day fanatic. I believe in taking care of what God gave us and respecting it just as we'd respect anything we have the blessing to be in possession of. For me, many of my 'green' life decisions also happen because they are economical and I will be green as long as my pocketbook allows. I'm not strapping myself to trees a la Lisa Simpson but I will do my very best to leave the lightest carbon footprint around.

As I've said for some time, I was Green before Green was cool...back then it was called being Poor! (Like that? Feel free to purchase it in my Cafepress shop!

So, I headed off to a local ahem, grocery store today for my weekly shopping. I was inspired by Walkinthewoods to bring my reusable grocery bags which I've had for some time but had always seemed to forget! So I threw my bags in the car and off I went, toddler in tow.

I had my usual buggy full of groceries...and put my bags on the groceries so the cashier would realize I was using them. Mind you, two of them are HUGE sturdy ones that basically stand up on their own, they don't flop over, and one was a smaller one.

Remember, it's Earth Day.

She ACTUALLY calls another cashier OVER to bag for her! To HELP her bag! She asks this, loudly, in between shooting me dirty looks. I, normally a pleasant person (ok, MOST of the time...) was not taking this nicely. I wasn't ugly or anything but I said, "Really, it's NOT a big deal, I will bag my OWN groceries. It's NOT THAT HARD." She never really responded to me and got her friend to come over. The friend basically said I'm not helping you bag..and proceeded to play with my baby (to make a point to her friend who was lazy or what I know not.)

So I ended up bagging my own groceries (no big deal but NOT my job...that's what THEY get paid to do.) and the cashier barely communicated with me other than the dirty looks. I was trying to casually explain how much more I can fit in the big reusable bags and what not. Nope, nothing. Just ticked off that I dared to bring in bags and not use their plastic bags!

Okay, so I realize it is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it was really bad mojo on Earth Day of all days!! I know that where I live, they are WAY behind on eco-friendly, modern, or new ideas. However, if one thinks about it, LOTS of green ideas have been around for a LOOOONG time...reusable bags, handmade soaps, laundry detergents, etc. These are not new ideas! So I hope one day that cashier realizes that A) it is not evil or an inconvenience for your customers to use reusable bags B) that how you treat your customers reflects a lot..I will never go in her line again C) do good and good will come to you....be ugly to people and you will get ugly back!

Okay, rant over, I told you it was mild, I just thought it was ludicrous to whine over using reusable bags...Oye.

HAPPY EARTH DAY everyone!! :)

Go Green with Mom's Cafe!!

Happy Earth Day Everyone!!!! Mom's Cafe wants to invite you to tune in tonite at 9 pm Eastern and help us GO GREEN! :) Learn earth friendly tips (to save money AND Mother Earth!), share your Eco-Friendly items, tips, links and more!

How do you go green? Don't be eco-friendly to keep up with the crowd...being green has to do within yourself! Many people have different reasons for going green...for myself it is saving money and leaving less of an ecological imprint...I personally believe we have been given this lovely Earth and it is up to us to respect it.

Maybe you can drive a hybrid car? Use Reusable grocery bags? Turn off the lights (I always did this one...would've had a sore behind if I didn't!) Use microfiber towels for your swiffers, towels instead of paper towels, make your own cleansers...the list goes on and on!

So what do YOU do to go green? Does it also help pinch pennies? How do you feel about Earth day?

Join us tonite to learn much more and share YOUR tips/links in chat! Always feel free to drop links just keep it kid friendly! :)

Mama and Rocker will get you green...and hopefully with a smile! :)

~Amy

http://mamaslittlemonkeys.byhand.me

http://rockerchic.byhand.me